December 4 …
The 32nd and 33rd WAACs — officially designated as the 32nd and 33rd Post Headquarters Companies — were two segregated, all-Black units of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, later the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), whose service during World War II made an important practical and symbolic contribution to the U.S. military and to American society by expanding roles for African American women in uniform.
Established in 1942 during the mobilization of the WAAC, the companies were recruited and trained at Fort Des Moines, IA. They were subsequently sent to Fort Huachuca, AZ — the base for the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry Regiment from 1913 to 1933.
The units arrived on December 4, 1942. Together, they comprised approximately 330 college-educated women who took over post headquarters duties, which allowed the men of the 93rd Infantry Division to be deployed for combat. The companies remained active throughout the war years, with documented WAAC/WAC service from 1942 to 1945.
The emergence of these units reflects the broader racial and gender dynamics of the era. African American women hoping to serve encountered segregated training, separate housing, and limited military occupational specialties, yet many volunteered in significant numbers to demonstrate their competence and patriotism.
Graduating officers were processed under Army orders, classifying the 32nd and 33rd as Post Headquarters Companies tasked with essential administrative, clerical, supply, mess, and recreational support roles. Company-level leaders and enlisted members are documented in archival photographs and rosters, featuring individuals such as Reba Caldwell, Lillian Duncan, Georgia Goens, Gwendolyn Seymour, Dorothy Thompson, and Mildred Gilmore.
Their achievements were both practical and symbolic. They freed male personnel for frontline combat duties by handling crucial administrative tasks, established various programs and support services at Fort Huachuca, and actively challenged prevailing stereotypes regarding the capabilities of Black women in military service.
Socially and culturally, the 32nd and 33rd units helped pave the way for greater opportunities for African American women in the armed forces. They contributed to the long-term desegregation and integration efforts that followed in the postwar period.
While specific honors and unit decorations for these companies are not extensively documented, their legacy is acknowledged in historical accounts, museum collections, and archival photographs, including materials preserved in the New York Public Library and military archives.
The pioneering role of the 32nd and 33rd Post Headquarters Companies is cited in scholarship on American military history and the contributions of these women during World War II are celebrated in African American history.
