First Women’s Army Corps Arrived at Arlington Hall, July 16, 1943

July 16, 1943, the first Women’s Army Corps (WAC) personnel arrived at Arlington Hall Station to serve as cryptanalysts, traffic analysts, and clerk-typists.

Although small detachments of WACs served at the Signal Security Agency (SSA) two “listening posts” at Vint Hill Farms, Virginia, and Two Rock Ranch, California, primarily as radio intercept operators, the largest the largest of the SSA’s WAC contingent served at Arlington Hall Station as cryptanalysts, traffic analysts, and clerk-typists. WACs at the two “listening posts” spent their days copying Morse transmissions and transcribing intercepts from both the German and Japanese armies. Intercepts of interest were sent to Arlington Hall Station where WACs processed and evaluated nearly 4,000 intercepted messages daily.