During World War II, a select group of young women pilots became pioneers, heroes, and role models... They were the Women Airforce Service Pilots, WASP, the first women in history trained to fly American military aircraft. In 1942, the United States was faced with a severe shortage of pilots, and leaders gambled on an experimental program to help fill the void: Train women to fly military aircraft so male pilots could be released for combat duty overseas. The group of female pilots was called the Women Airforce Service Pilots — WASP for short. In 1944, during the graduation ceremony for the last WASP training class, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Air Forces, Henry "Hap" Arnold, said that when the program started, he wasn't sure "whether a slip of a girl could fight the controls of a B-17 in heavy weather." "Now in 1944, it is on the record that women can fly as well as men," Arnold said. A few more than 1,100 young women, all civilian volunteers, flew almost every type of military aircraft — including the B-26 and B-29 bombers — as part of the WASP program. They ferried new planes long distances from factories to military bases and departure points across the country. They tested newly overhauled planes. And they towed targets to give ground and air gunners training shooting — with live ammunition. The WASP expected to become part of the military during their service. Instead, the program was canceled after just two years. Betty Gillies posing besides an aircraft. Celia Hunter in the cockpit of a P-47 fighter. Hazel Lee posing with a biplane, circa 1930s. Cornelia Fort posing with a PT-19 aircraft. Jackie Cochran in the cockpit of P-40 Warhawk fighter, circa 1942-1945. WASP pilot Deanie (Bishop) Parrish in front of her P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft, circa early 1940s. Nancy Harkness Love posing in front of a PT-19A trainer aircraft, 1942-43. Note WAFS patch on her jacket (forerunner of the WASPs). WASP pilot Catherine Vail Bridge standing in front of a P-38 Lightning. WASP pilot Elizabeth L. Gardner at the window of her B-26 Marauder bomber, Harlingen Army Air Field, Texas, United States, circa 1942-1945. Autographed copy of a posed photo of WAFS pilot Florene Watson with an AT-6 Texan, Love Field, Dallas, Texas, United States, Feb 1943. WASP cadets Leonora Anderson and Mildred Axton show off the oversized and ill-fitting jump suits provided to the WASP program, Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas, United States, May 1943. WAFS pilot Nancy Harkness Love in the cockpit of B-17 Flying Fortress bomber 'Queen Bee', circa Sep 1943. WASP Nancy Love in the cockpit of Fairchild PT-19 trainer, circa 1944. WASP pilot Dawn Seymour at the controls of a B-17 Fortress, circa 1944. WASP pilot Ellen Wimberly Campbell, 44-W-7, at the controls of a Beech AT-10 Wichita trainer, 1944. Location uncertain but likely Columbus Army Air Field, Columbus, Mississippi, United States. WASP pilot Nancy Nesbit seated in the cockpit of an AT-6 Texan at Love Field, Dallas, Texas, United States, 1944. WASP pilot Susie Winston Bain, Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas, United States, May 1944. WASP pilot Lillian Yonally seated in the cockpit of an A-25A Shrike at Camp Irwin airstrip, California, United States, 1944. WASP pilot Margaret Phelan Taylor, Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas, United States, Jun 1944. WASP pilot Anne Armstrong McClellan showing off the WASP dress white uniform blouse and pin showing the WASP mascot, Fifinella (designed by Walt Disney and used by the WASPs with permission), 1944. WASP pilot Ruth Dailey climbing into a P-38 Lightning aircraft, 28 Nov 1944. WASP pilot Dorothy Olsen on the wing of a P-38L Lightning, 1945. WASP pilot Vivian Eddy in the door of a P-39 Airacobra, 1945.