Evening star., 1942-08-04
Regulations 10 Permit
WAVES 10 'Date,'
Smoke and Drink
1t. Comdr. McAfee
Outlines Privileges and
Duties After Tokine Oath

Members of the u naval district
boards who will select officers of
the new Women's Reserve of the
United States Naval Reserve were
expected to be announced today as
Miss Mildred McAfee, sworn in yes
terday as the WAVES director, con-
tinued with plans for the corps.
Details of the WAVES announced
by 1t. Comdr. McAfee at a press
conference after she took her oath
of ofice from Secretary of Navy
Knox yesterday concerned train
ing program for 900 officers, the uni
form and the dating etiquette the
WAVES will be expected to follow
Don't you want to know about
anything except the uniform?" Miss
McAfee inquired yesterday when re-
porters opened the conference with
a l0-minute barrage of questions
on the dark blue worsted uniform
planned for the WAVES. Because
the officers for the corps will not
be commissioned till october, no
summer whites will be supplied i'm
mediately.
Regulation Pocketbooks.
Each onicer and enlisted WAVES
may choose her own type of black
walking shoe to go with the dark
blue jacket and skirt, and reserve
blue" shirt she will wear. A regu-
lation pocketbook will be slung over
one shoulder by a strap. The ohi-
GERS will wear white shirts for
dress and stripes indicating rank
in their sleeves. The WAVES in
sigma is a propeller lntertwined
with an anchor, to be worn on the
lapel.
The WAVES can wear slightly
higher heels at night. The color
Of their Isle stockings is undecided.
Uniform allowances will be issued
for the official parts of the uni
form and underclothes left to the
preference of the individual.
The WAVES headgear is more a
hat than q cap, Miss McAfee said,
and very attractive" It has some
historical significance as far as the
Navy is concerned, she continued,
being of eighteenth or nineteenth
century" design. She began to de-
scribe it yesterday as rolled on the
sides and straight in the front and
back" but men reporters crowding
the Navy pressroom interrupted her
explanation 50 many times that she
gave up with a laugh and advised
them to wait till they see 1t. The
uniforms will be made up for exhi-
bition within a few days, she said,
but will not be worn generally until
. large number Of WAVES have
been appointed.
Flexible Makeup Rules.
Wearing no makeup and little
jewelry herself, Miss McAfee said
makeup would be permitted and
the amount left to each WAVES.
Everybody wants to look human"
she said.
WAVES can drink of duty, II
they like. and smoke except on the
street. When reporters pressed the
quiet voiced director as to her own
smoking habits, she retorted:
II don't smoke and I don't see
why I should begin just because I
have gone into the Navy. do you?"
Neither the director nor the semi
circle Of naval advisers who stood
behind her chair at the conference
yesterday would comment directly
on the dating" situation. Miss
McAfee preferred to state simply
that Navy customs would be fol-
lowed at all times. This included,
an ofiicer explained later, that the
traditional separation between ofii-
GERS and enlisted men would be
followed with WAVES officers see
ing only commissioned personnel Of
the Navy socially. and enlisted
WAVES restricting themselves to
sailors.
Miss McAfee returned again and
again to the point that the WAVES
will be regular members of the Navy,
with uniform allowances, discipline
and customs imposed exactly as on
the men. While WAVES officers by
law cannot exert authority" over
Navy men, they will be extended all
naval courtesies due officers. Sec
retary Knox's rule that no commits
sion should be granted without some
period Of "acquaintanceship" with
Navy customs will be followed in all
the indoctrination courses for the
WAVES.
Matrimony Permitted.
1--WE believe in matrimony In the
Navy" the director commented as
she stressed that there is no ban
against the WAVES marrying except
during their actual period Of train
ing. No women with children under
10 will be accepted as technical
officers and the "V-9" ofhcer can
didates must be childless.
Five or six assistants to the direc-
tor, including Miss Dorothy Foster
Of Atlanta, will be commissioned
within a few days. BY September l
about As women with teaching expe-
rience will be taking indoctrination
courses at Smith College preparatory
to the opening OF the college to 800
other officers october !. This first
group then will ''understudy" naval
officers on the faculty so that all
but few men can later be replaced
by women instructors. About SIS
officers will attend the school Oc-
tober / for training on instruction
of enlisted personnel to begin al
some Midwestern women's college
November l.
About 500 Of the first WAVES
class at Smith will be "V-9's" from
20 to 80 years, to be known as
apprentice seamen for the frs
month and midshipmen for the las
three months of training before
receiving their commissions Tht
enlisted personnel. for which ap'
plications will not be received fol
some time, will be known a
"V-l0's."
The other 300 of the first office
class will be women already com
missioned because of technical train
ing and experience, who will underg
only six weeks of indoctrination be
fore being placed on active duty
These women will range from 20 t.