Story of the Women's Army Corps

The bed and area had to be spotlessly clean and uniform. That meant no dust on any surface, no kleenex hanging out of the box, no buttons unbuttoned or zippers unzipped on the hanging clothes. Each footlocker was also inspected to make sure everything in it was supposed to be there and in the right place; all footlockers must be the same. Each bed had to be tightly made in the manner taught. If it was not, the inspector would rudely jerk all the covers off the bed and note a demerit called a "gig." If too many of those were received over a certain period of time, the individual would be "recycled" back to an earlier week in another company. Basic training was designed to cover 8 weeks of intensive training, and eventually, if the trainee was unable to get through the complete cycle of 8 weeks, they would be discharged under General conditions as "unable to adapt to military service."

Pressing the uniform was done endlessly...there were to be no wrinkles in a uniform EVER. It became a custom for the girls to take off their uniform as soon as they came in from classes, set up the ironing board and press the uniform before they were called back to formation again. There was always someone pressing their uniform at any given moment. We sure needed to own shares of the spray starch companies, since we used it every day, several times a day.

Shoes were another thing the WAC was particular about; when issued, your "low quarters" (not high heels), were immediately stripped with lighter fluid and a cotton ball. The next step was black leather dye, put on and allowed to dry. Right then, they looked really terrible, dull and off color. Using black paste polish, the lid was popped off and filled with water.A small portion of soft cloth such as a cloth diaper was wrapped around your forefinger and dipped into water, then into the paste polish. With small circular movements, the polishing began. Every inch of the shoe was polished in this way until the shoe was shiny. They would not be stripped and re-dyed for a long time, but would continue to build up the shine on that base each day, until the shoes looked like patent leather. This was very time consuming, but what the heck, you had nowhere to go. Polishing the shoes was a daily event, because marching in a field of grass which happened almost every day, ate the shine right off the shoes.

If locker keys, name badge, or dogtags were lost, or if money was discovered loose in the locker, it was called a "security violation," and could get a demerit or even an Article 15, which put a bad report on the Army personnel record.

It was REQUIRED to wear hair no longer than the uniform collar, or it must be worn up in a manner that permitted the wearing of the uniform hat. No pony tails were allowed.

It was REQUIRED to wear lipstick, whether you liked wearing it or not.

No earrings or necklace could be worn while in uniform.

No perfume or cologne was allowed while in uniform.

A platoon or company was always moved from place to place by marching in formation.

If in uniform just walking down the street, every officer or officer's car had be saluted. One of the classes was on recognizing insignia. A non-commissioned officer like a Sergeant or Specialist was not to be saluted, only the Commissioned Officers. If you failed to salute, the officer could stop you and put you "on report," at which time your Company Commander was notified. She would then decide your penance, which could range from picking up litter from the grounds to scrubbing toilets.

Maybe all this sounds very difficult, and yes, it could be. But just as in any group, a platoon bonds together and helps one another get through it. We became as close as family, having our disagreements, but willing to fight for each other if the need arose.