During World War II, nearly 100,000 women served in the WAVES, many in administrative or office jobs, but nearly one-third of WAVES were assigned naval aviation duties. The Navy recruited college educated women with experience in engineering, math or physical science as officers in the WAVES -- like WAVES member and later Navy Reserve Rear Adm. Grace Hopper, a computer science pioneer who oversaw the development of the first compiler and the first programming language to use word commands in the 1950s. The WAVES integrated into the regular Navy when the Women’s Armed Forces Integration Act of 1948, allowed women to serve in the peacetime military with some restrictions. Capt. Joy Bright Hancock and Chief Edna Young became some of the first women sworn into the regular Navy in 1948.

Last Updated: 29 March 2023