Evening star., 1951-10-01
Col BHont Once fought School
Army Nurses Have New Chief
fought School
BY Betty Miles

pletlng three years OF 0uGy at
Walter Reed Hospital. her first
assignment in the Army Nurse
Corps.
Now Coz. Ruby r. Bryant Isl
back settled in the hunting
Towers Apartments in Alexandria,
and ready for her next assign
ment IN the Nations Capital. To-
day she takes over as head of the
Army Nurse Corps.
Soft-spoken Col. Bryant taught
school for five years near her
home in Emmerton, Va. before
she decided that nursing. not
teaching, was the career for her.
An enthusiastic friend already in
training in the Army Nursing
School interested her in it,
and she became a memberI
of the last class to graduate from
the now defunct school. She isl
the second of the nine chiefs of
the 50-year-old corps to be q
graduate If that school. Her
predecessor, Col. Mary G. Phillips,
also trained there. The Army de-
pends now on graduates OF civil
ian schools for recruits.
Col. Bryant has had her share
of the travel and variety that
are among the rewards OF an
Army nurses career. On Cor
regidor in 1887, she helped set up
and equip the Malinta Tunnel
Hospital that played a major role
In World War II. Back in the
United States, she served as chief
nurse at Edgewood Arsenal. Md.
and as director of nurses for the
4th Service Command at At
lanta. Ga. Then her work took
her back to the Pacific again,
where she was director of nurses
for the Far East Command in
1916. with headquarters in Tokyo.
Back in the States again, Col.
Bryant served as chief nurse OF
the 9Th Army Area, stationed at
the Presidio, in San Francisco. be-
fore coming back to Washington.
She is a graduate of the Advanced
Medical Service Officers Course
at Fort Sam Houston, Tex.
Now-2,0O0 Needed
What is Col. Bryant'S first goal
as head of the corps? She wants
to see 1000 more nurses added by
January, 1852, to the $3.50 now in
the corps. Actually, the need is
immediate, to meet the expansion
of military installations here and
abroad.
To-day, in view Of the nursing
shortage, nurses have difficulty in
determining where the greater
need lies, in civilian life or with
the military" Col. Bryant re-
marked. "We feel that nurses
must leave civilian life in propor-
tions corresponding to the in
crease in the armed forces"
There were 625 nurses in the
corps in 1889 and $1,000 in 1945
all volunteers. In 1914 Army
nurses advanced from relative |
rank" to temporary commission
status as officers of the United
States Army, and in 1947 were
granted permanent status. The
corps numbered 3,460 at the out
break of Korean hostilities. Al
though there wa a surge Of re-
cruits then, one involuntary re-
call of $50 reservists has been
necessary. But the corps is not
planning another, Col. Bryant re-
ported, and hopes to meet its
requirements through volunteers.
"An Army nurse must be willing |
to go anywhere and perform any
duty" Col. Bryant pointed out,
with tour of duty abroad part
of the career of most nurses.
Greater specialization exists today
than when she was a second lieu
tenant. and the traditional teach
ing duties of the Army nurse have |
expanded as the Army's enlisted /
personnel has grown. But in
Army nursing bedside care re-
mains the primary work, she ex-
planned. In the corps a nurse can
attain her majority, with super
visory responsibilities, and still do
bedside nursing.
About Reserve
Prior to World War II the 1
Army Nurse Corps did not have 1
a reserve-the Red Cross sup
piled the reserve for both the
Army and Navy A law passed in 4
1947 established an Army Nurse
Corps Section in the Officers Re
serve Corps. Today the corps is
composed of regular Army nurses,
reserve nurses on extended active
duty and the approximate 10000
reserve nurses in civilian prac-
tice. It is the latter group, of
course, that forms the nucleus of II
supply IN a national emergency.
Members of the Reserve Corps
can return to active duty for u,
"a. 36 months or longer, Col.
Bryant explained, becoming re-
serve nurses on extended active
duty. They enjoy most Of the
benefits of the regular Army
nurse, including retirement bene. ii
fits. Women from 81 to As are
eligible as reservists, women from
81 to % may enter the regular
Army.
Nurses may marry, but since
The outbreak of the Korean hos
tilities. can no longer secure re-
lease from the corps then. AL
though they are requested to re-