The Pittsburgh Press (April 3, 1944)
In Washington –
Training cost for WASPS is under fire
Blocking of probe charged to Army
Washington (UP) –
Rep. Robert Ramspeck (D-GA) declared today that “official silence” is blocking inquiries into charges that the Army is training women pilots for the WASPS at a cost of up to $20,000 each, while services of thousands of available male pilots are being ignored.
He said his House Civil Service Investigating Committee had received numerous such complaints.
He said:
If the reports are true, it is certainly a waste of the taxpayers’ money to train the girls and leave the large numbers of trained pilots unused.
May hold hearings
Unless the information is forthcoming from the Army, Mr. Ramspeck said, his committee may hold hearings to get it. He said the charges may be presented when a pending bill to take the WASPS into the Army comes up in the House. The Military Affairs Committee approved the measure after Gen. H. H. Arnold, commander of the Army Air Forces, testified in support of it.
Most of the complaints, Mr. Ramspeck said, come from male pilots who say that the Army is training “green and inexperienced” girls, leaving untouched the services of thousands of skilled male pilots left idle with curtailment of Army and Navy flight training programs. In addition, increasing numbers of pilots returning from combat duty add to the pilot pool.
Started as small group
The women fliers started as a small expert group – the WAFS under Nancy Love – composed of a few women pilots, all of whom already had good flying records.
The WASPS later started under Jacqueline Cochran, and now include 534 women pilots with others in training.
The WASPS, if taken into the Army as provided in the Costello bill, would be headed by one officer of colonel rank – a post which would presumably go to Miss Cochran.