 There it was, the Pentagon. If you don't see it for a while, you forget how darn big it is. Let's see. Room 3D247. Well, that's what Karen had said on the phone, the Pentagon. Room 3D247. Ellen Peterson, Information Specialist. Yes, can I help you? Piggy! Hi! You look great! Well, thanks, and so do you. Thanks. Well, you made it back. How was Germany? Great, I had a terrific time. And you're on your way back to Fort McClellan? Right. Back to where I started. Only this time I'll be the instructor. Well, sit down. Pull up a chair. I'll get coffee. Okay, fine, thanks. I still take mine black. How about you? Oh, I'll have the same thing. As you can see on the board, a lot of the gals still keep in touch from all over the world. I've got pictures and letters from most of those we knew in basic. Germany, Belgium, Hawaii, Japan, even Alaska and Okinawa. And of course, postcards from girls on leave. Paris, Rome, Madrid. You name it. Same old Karen, the walking personnel directorial. Say, you're just the one I wanted to talk to. I got a note the other day from Sally Gresham saying that she was heading back toward the states. Say, that's right. You two were roommates, weren't you? Let's see. I seem to remember. Oh, here's a letter from Marge Griffin in Belgium. Marge Griffin? You remember? The little redhead whose secret ambition it was to get up before dawn someday and fill the bugler's horn with jello. Wow. Those days and weeks back at the center. Remember? Do I remember? I used to look at the new faces arriving and know exactly what they were thinking and feeling. Yes. That mixture of apprehension and excitement. A whole new phase of life beginning. A feeling starting to grow right from the first. A belonging to something with roots that reach deep. And the first night in the barracks. You never realize at the time the lifelong friendships that have begun so casually right there at the start. Then all of a sudden it's time for lights out and you're alone again with your thoughts. Hearing the bugle notes. Feeling certain you won't be able to sleep. But you do. Not for long. You discover the shortest instant of measurable time. The one between lights out and revelry. You felt rushed. But then as you got into the swing of things you really felt rushed. But every time with every group out of the chaos comes order. And with it a feeling you're beginning to understand what it's all about. I think the off-duty memories of those weeks are special too. Maybe because of all the bustle. Leisure moments seem to move like lazy quiet sunlight. Hey, listen to the poetic sergeant. But you're right. And along the way each one learns something about the real reason why the whack exists. The role of the Women's Army Corps is in support of the U.S. Army mission. Whatever that may be at any time. But it is not all work as the film you're about to see proves very well. You find out that the center is the home of the Corps is unique in itself. It is the only U.S. Army center commanded and staffed exclusively by women. And it's no small operation. Over recent years it has turned out more than 4,000 trained wax a year. And as of now the rate is up to more than 5,000 a year. At any given moment the commander of the center is in charge of some 2,000 wax assigned to duty or in training at the center. From here came the 12,000 wax who served today all over the world. And from here will come the thousands who will serve in the future. Regular gold mine of facts aren't you? Information specialist that's my job. The center is a good sized command in itself. In command means officers. A lot of people don't realize that whack officers are given practical exercises and operations of major headquarters. In fact learn to perform the entire gamut of general and special staff functions. Personnel, intelligence, operations, logistics. It works. They travel to other army posts for a first hand look at the army's combat capabilities. They see for themselves the striking power which makes their army the strongest fighting force in history. Before they take on their command responsibility in the women's army corps they get a thorough grounding in the overall capabilities of today's army. Of course it's not all work. They also face tactical situations which give them a chance to exercise their increased capacity for steady judgment, careful evaluation, and appropriate action. Ah yes, the responsibilities of command. As with most professionals the learning never stops for an officer in the whack. As their careers progress the level of responsibility they may be called on to carry goes up too. The command and general staff school at Fort Leavenworth Kansas and even the Army War Colleges is often part of their preparation for that advanced responsibility. Through the Congress gives certain authority which I will refer to as judicial authority to the military commander. This authority comes to the commander in the form of statutes. The authority under the statute as contrasted with the authority given by the president is narrow. It's limited and the commander is required to act completely within the limitation of the statutes which he utilizes. In a few minutes you will have a practical exercise in which you consider four cases. Before the practical exercise though a few questions. What is the purpose and the first part of the first sentence of Article 37? Major Adams please. With commitments that take the Army uniform into just about every corner of the free world, the level of experience and training just has to be high if the demands are to be met. Thank you Major. Next question. What remedy or what action is taken in the military when it appears that there has in fact been a violation of this Article 37? Colonel Smith please. If on a pellet review there is an indication that there has been a violation of Article 37, the case is modified. Thank you ma'am. I guess the time was when most people thought of wax as simply office clerks or switchboard operators. I was doing an article for a journal last week and had to do some research. You know how many different job specialties wax hold today? More than a hundred. Same old Karen, still regular Army. Well it's a fact. You take Ann Bowles. She finished her advanced individual training at the center just as you did. She went through learning all the basics, typing, drilling and practicing, getting it right. Short hand. Preparation in depth for taking on administrative responsibilities that can be as great as the individual girl's skill and talent for the work. I got a letter from Ann last week. Now she's a command staff secretary at the headquarters in Berlin. She's responsible for handling correspondence that has to do with what's happening in the world. She has a feeling she's doing something that needs doing, doing it well and doing it where it counts. And she's right too. Or take logistics. Most people have no real idea just how huge the movement of supplies and material is all around the world to make it possible for the Army to meet its commitments. It's a job that takes some doing. Frank Harper is in West Germany. Where more and more of the record keeping, order processing and flow control of Army logistics are handled by computerized operations. She's assigned as a computer programmer and operator at a center which controls and directs the flow of everything from a bulldozer to a screwdriver, from trucks to overshoes to weapons and ammunition to biscuit flour, actually millions of items during any one month. It's really something. Hey, you don't have to sell me. I'm in remember. It's just that I'm a little more conscious of all this with all the reading and writing I do in this information job. I mean, take that as an example. This job itself. When I finished basic at the center, I went to information school at Fort Benjamin Harrison. I'd worked on the school paper in high school, but this was a whole new world. We learned interview techniques, news writing, layout, broadcasting, the basics of photography, including motion pictures. All the basics and then some. I enjoyed every minute of it. All the basics and then some, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The information school. Sally Gresham was there about the same time you were, wasn't she? I remember. She left the center at the same time. That's right. Just at the same time, Mary Bussey left for Texas to take medical training at Fort Sam Houston. Yes, but what about? You know, I saw Mary just the other day. Small world. Just went over to Walter Reed for a checkup, and there she was. But funny you should mention it. Mary Bussey. She's an x-ray technician. Can you imagine Mary, a medical specialist? She needed help to put a band-aid on a blister back in basic. But she had the aptitude and the motivation, and training did the rest. And of course there are wax specialists on duty in the wards too. Skill, patience, a quiet word. Things that are maybe a little more effective with a woman's touch. And work that requires pains taking care and dexterity. Like being a dental technician. We type and handle switchboards all right, but there's a lot more to it than that. Look, that's wonderful. But what about Sally Gresham? Oh yes. Say, did she have a brother who was a chopper pilot instructor down at Fort Rucker? Fort Rucker? Right. And you know who's at Fort Rucker right now? Sue Blake. Sue Blake? You remember? A little girl from Mississippi? P-A-M-I-4-6. Make a straight-in approach. Hanchie's Landing South. She's a specialist assigned to air traffic control. Helping coordinate flight operations at a field that has more landings and takeoffs each day than most big commercial airports. Hanchie Tower, this is P-A-M-I-4-6. Roger. P-A-M-I-4-6. Contact ground control on 249.4. Hanchie Tower, this is cowboy two over Ozark for landing. Sue Blake. I've got to remember to drop her a line. Say, Karen, can I ask you something? Sure. Do you happen to know how I might get in touch with Sally Gresham? Oh, yes. Sally, I've got a note about her here someplace. She's been in Japan. I know, I know. Matter of fact, in the Public Information Office in Tokyo. She wrote a darn good piece on the WAC advisors to the Women's Armed Forces Corps of Vietnam. You know, the WAFSEE, but from the point of view of the senior advisor who is in charge of providing assistance to the WAFSEE in a great many ways. In fact, she used a lot of direct quotes from the senior advisor herself from an interview she gave. Well, in the first place, I should point out that there are many similarities. Outstanding among these are that they are all volunteers and they all perform administrative type duties as opposed to combat type duties. The original mission was to release men to be assigned to combat or combat support duties. Also, they have Air Force Security. Now, the Air Force Security are trained at the National Police Academy and they work with the military guards at the Air Force bases. They do not carry weapons, but they do search the women entering and leaving the institution. In the past, we've had some difficulty in finding enough officers in the WAFSEE who had the English proficiency, which was necessary for the school in the States. We do not anticipate that problem in the future since we do have a number of hours in English in our office of hand with clients. The welfare of workers are a rather unique area that the WAFSEEs work in. These women work with the dependents of the soldiers. The Vietnamese allow their dependents to go down to regimental level. And while the soldiers are out on operation, these WAFSEEs see that the dependents are taken care of. My first major project in Vietnam was to establish an in-country officer candidate school. When they successfully complete the course, their commission is aspirant, which although we don't have a comparable rank, we might think of it as a third lieutenant. Their next promotion would be to second lieutenant. That story of Sally's really brought out how important this advisory effort is in building an effective equivalent of the WAFSE for the Vietnamese Army and in cementing relations between our two countries. The same kind of job is being done in Korea, too. Our Women's Army Corps has provided an advisor to the Korean Women's Army Corps since 1956. And you know, the fact that the idea of a Women's Army Corps, or the equivalent, has taken root so well in both these countries shows pretty clearly that the idea is a practical one to start with. That there's a place in the complex of today's armies that can be filled and filled well by the particular talents and capabilities of trained and professional women soldiers. When you stop to look at the whole scope of what we've been doing, it gets kind of exciting, doesn't it? It is. But you know what I'd really find exciting? What? Some information about Sally Gresham. Sally Gresham? Well, the last I heard, she was over at Gravely Point doing a personal favor for me, delivering some copies, as a matter of fact. Gravely Point? Right. About 15 minutes by bus, over by National Airport. You know. Gravely Point? Well, how do I get there? She's not there now. Well, where is she now? Standing right behind you, trying not to burst out laughing. Oh, you. Don't blame me. She made me promise not to let you know she was here. She was just leaving to deliver some news copy for me when you called earlier. Well, you kept your promise, but I was really beginning to worry about you. Okay, enough of this lullagagging. I'm a working girl. Why don't you two go sightseeing or something? Call me later and I'll meet you somewhere for supper. Right. Okay. Oh, by the way, Peggy, you two will have plenty of time to catch up on gossip. Sally's been assigned back at the center, too, to the information office. You're kidding. No. Go on. Have fun. See you later. Bye. You're really being reassigned to the center. I really am. It's going to be great. One, down, down. One.