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UNDERUTILIZATION The war offered women new opportunities, but not surprisingly, long habits that underutilize women’s abilities did not end in those four years. Female pilots may be the best example: despite worldwide respect for such models as Amelia Earhart, experienced women were limited to what aviator Jacqueline Cochran called “aerial dishwashing.” Women in the Civil Air Patrol, the Women’s Air Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), and the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) were not allowed to fully use their skills. Louise Thaden of Bentonville, Arkansas for example, was so distinguished an aviator that she defeated Earhart in the fi rst Women’s Air Derby, but because she had two children by World War II, she was not permitted to use her skills in the military. A clear case of underutilization, Thaden volunteered in the best available alternative; she was exceptional in rising to lieutenant colonel in the unpaid Civil Air Patrol.