World War II was waged on land, on sea, and in the air over several diverse theaters of operation for approximately six years. Over 150,000 American women served in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) during this time. Members of the WAC were the first women other than nurses to serve within the ranks of the United States Army. Both the Army and the American public initially had difficulty accepting the concept of women in uniform. However, political and military leaders, faced with fighting a two-front war and supplying men and material for that war while continuing to send lend-lease material to the Allies, realized that women could supply the additional resources so desperately needed in the military and industrial sectors. Given the opportunity to make a major contribution to the national war effort, women seized it. They were led by Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby, the director of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps which later became the Women's Army Corps. 

• Exhibit
• Descriptive Guide to the Oveta Culp Hobby Papers
• Further Reading