Olive Hoskins

Olive Hoskins was a military clerk and the first woman promoted to warrant officer in the United States Army. She served for almost 30 years before retiring. During her duty, she never wore a military uniform or saluted a superior officer.

Olive Hoskins at work in the army building, New York City, circa 1933

Olive Hoskins on duty in 1933 at Seventh Corps Headquarters in Omaha

Early life

Hoskins was born in Pasadena, California, around 1890.[1]

Career

Hoskins initially worked for the U.S. Army as a civilian grade headquarters clerk in 1907. During World War I in 1916 she was attached to an intelligence unit in an army field clerk position.[2] She did well in this position and in 1917 she was made a Warrant Officer. She became an office manager director in charge of personnel at the Judge Advocate General's Office in San Francisco, California.[3]

Hoskins served in the Philippines from 1919 to 1922. She then served ten years at the Seventh Corps Headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, initially in a director's position.[4] The director's position was dissolved in 1926 while she was serving there. She was appointed a warrant officer, a technical position specifically designed as an upper grade level. It was a skilled trained position for a specific job, uncommon to the normal duties of the area. It ranked between enlisted people and commissioned officers. Hoskins stayed in Omaha through 1933.[3]

Hoskins had served in the military about 20 years when she received the warrant officer position. Hoskins was the first woman to be a United States Army warrant officer.[5][6][7][8] The second woman to receive the warrant officer's position was Jen Doble. She also had served about 20 years in the military. There were no more female warrant officers until after Hoskins and Doble retired.[9] Hoskins went back to the Philippines in 1934 and stayed there into mid 1936. Her final assignment from 1936 until retirement in 1937 was at the Ninth Corps Headquarters in San Francisco.[3]

Hoskins in her military career had never worn a military uniform, never had to salute a superior, was never awakened by reveille, never slept in a pup tent, and never stood in line for mess.[2][10][11]

Death

Hoskins died October 1, 1975.[12]

See also

• Women in the United States Army

References

1. Baron 1997, p. 77.
2. "Uncle Sam's Only Lady Soldier Veteran of Twenty Five Years". The Evening Times. Sayre, Pennsylvania. 17 January 1933. p. 6. During her entire service the woman warrior has never worn a uniform.
3. Witlieb 1992, p. 215.
4. "Woman serves in U.S. Army". Santa Cruz Evening News. Santa Cruz, California. Jan 19, 1933. p. 2. She is the only woman Warrant Officer in the United States Army, and now Miss Olive Hospins has sailed from New York for a tour of regular duty in the Philippines.
5. Franck 1995, p. 334.
6. Hall 2010, p. 67.
7. Wilson, Barbara A. (2015). "Military Women "Firsts"". Captain Barbara A. Wilson, USAF (Ret). Retrieved January 10, 2016. Olive Hoskins was the very first woman promoted to Warrant Officer in the Army.
8. "News For Your Views / Firsts in a variety of areas:". Volume 8, Number 12. NJ Dept of Military and Veterans Affairs. Retrieved January 10, 2016. Olive Hoskins was the very first woman promoted to Warrant Officer in the Army.
9. "History of Women Warrant Officers in the U. S. Army". warrantofficerhistory.org. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
10. "She in the Army, but Doesn't Dig Ditches". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 12 January 1933. But she has never worn a uniform, been called on to salute a superior, been rudely awakened by reveille, done field duty, stood in line for mess, slept in a pup tent, or otherwise shared in the rigors of Army life.
11. "Did not wear uniform" - Encyclopedia of US Army Insignia and Uniforms (Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1996) by Bill Emerson
12. Commire 2007, p. 900.

Sources

• Baron, Scott (1 November 1997). They Also Served: Military Biographies of Uncommon Americans. MIE Publishing. ISBN 978-1-877639-37-1.
• Commire, Anne (2007). Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Thomson Gale. ISBN 978-0-7876-7585-1.
• Franck, Irene M. (July 1995). Women's world: a timeline of women in history. HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0-06-273336-8. Olive Hoskins was the first U.S. Army warrant officer, a skilled technician ranked between enlisted individuals and commissioned officers.
• Hall, Lynn K. (15 July 2010). Counseling Military Families: What Mental Health Professionals Need to Know. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-135-90966-6. ... when Olive Hoskins became the first woman promoted to warrant officer...
• Witlieb, Bernard L. (1992). Women's Firsts. Random House Information Group. ISBN 978-0-679-40975-5.