Signal Corps Pictorial Center

“ Enlistments standards of the Women's Army Corps are high: in addition to the usual age, citizenship and physical requirements, to be accepted the recruit must be of excellent character and have a high school education, or the equivalent. ”

“ So without further ado I would like to present to you our chief of staff of the United States Army, General Matthew B. Ridgway. General?
Today's ceremony has special significance, not alone for the Women's Army Corps, but for all of us. It emphasized the essential need for women in the Army, and the continuing nature of that need. The task of keeping our Nation strong and free requires the efforts and talents of all our citizens, men and women alike. ”

“ Perhaps the trainee's strongest reminder that she has entered the United States Army comes with the issuance of the practical everyday shoes which scientifically designed for maximum comfort are exactingly fitted.
The ancient jokes about growing into a uniform of reducing to fit it do not hold up in the WAC. Each uniform is custom tailored to ensure every recruit a uniform which meets her individual requirements.
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Once the clothing issue is complete, and has been double checked by the supply sergeant, each recruit is personally responsible for the care and maintenance of every item. ”

“ The 17-weeks course combines purely academic studies with military subjects. Young women with college educations are given the opportunity to begin military careers as commissioned officers. Because the Women's Army Corps has no ROTC, the demand for officer personnel must be met by training women of qualified caliber in the Center's OCS.
Similar to the advanced training offered by other branches of the army, the Center also conducts an advanced officer course to prepare WACs to staff duty at higher headquarters in the Army and Department of Defense. ”

“ Well-balanced meals prepared by expert cooks and dieticians observed promptly and attractively by specially trained WAC personnel.
Healthy appetites among the trainees are assured by proper amounts of physical and mental exercise.
One form of exercise, sometimes called "drudgery" or "washday blues" by housewives which has been cut to a minimum at the Center, is the WAC laundry problem. Every dormitory boasts its own laundromat and ironing facilities. No scrubbing, no rubbing: they let the machines do it. ”

“ WACs enrolled in the Center's clerk typist and stenography course find the program radically different from the accepted training class. Students are graduated when they have attained the proficiency necessary for assignment. They are not required to attend the maximum limit of the course. Enrollment in these classes is open both to WACs in the field, and to graduate of basic training. ”

“ The chaplains are always available for counsel and guidance. Many WACs stationed at the Center find here the opportunity to strengthen the religious ties of their particular faith by joining a choir or teaching in one of the many Sunday School classes. ”

“ The value of the course is twofold: the Army needs good clerk-typist and stenographers for important and interesting positions for post and higher-level jobs at home and overseas; the increased skill and ability enjoyed by the graduates brings more rapid promotions with a corresponding increase in pay. ”

“ For those less athletically inclined, the spacious tea rooms found in each dormitory offer many recreational opportunities for the WACs ample free hours. In many respects, the living quarters bear a closer resemblance to college dormitories or to sorority houses than to military barracks. ”

“ Nearly every modern convenience conceivable is incorporated in the facilities of the WAC Center. But the centuries-old institution of KP still exists, and will undoubtedly, until civilians and military alike have learned to subsists on little pills alone. ”