When Wilma Vaught was ordered to Vietnam, women in the Air Force were not generally allowed to take weapons training. She did not much care for that rule. Vaught had her brother-in-law teach her to shoot before demanding to take the qualification test. She qualified expert and earned the marksmanship ribbon. From growing up during the Great Depression to her distinguished military career and after, retired Brigadier General Wilma Vaught never let others use gender to keep her from her goals. She earned a degree from the University of Illinois in 1952, but later left her civilian job when it became clear a woman would not be allowed to climb the management ranks. She joined the Air Force in 1957 as a second lieutenant and trained in her eventual specialty of management analysis. General Vaught served in Europe, the Pacific, and Southeast Asia. Her first Vietnam War service came in 1966, as the first woman to be deployed with a B-52 bomber wing. She returned to Vietnam in 1968, serving with the comptroller and as an analyst for MACV in Saigon. In this interview, General Vaught discusses her groundbreaking career, her time in Vietnam—where she was one of only four women serving at the massive MACV headquarters—and her impressive post-military life, in which she has remained committed to supporting veterans.

Key Words: Basic Officer Military Course (BOMC), Women in the Air Force (WAF)

Key Names: Senator Paul Douglas (D-IL), Major General Jeanne Holm