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EC honors historic AF leader

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Zachary Wilson
  • U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Every Airman should know the name Grace A. Peterson. Since nearly every Professional Military Education course in the Air Force mentions her.

With two hundred in attendance at the Expeditionary Center Oct. 18, the first woman to be promoted to chief master sergeant 50 years ago sat in the front row of the hall bearing her name as several of her family members looked on.

"Chief Peterson is a trail blazer," said Brig. Gen. Richard Devereaux, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center commander. "Like any (non-commissioned officer), she would tell you she was just doing her job in a unique time in the history of our nation and Air Force, but the impact she has made on the lives of women and all Airmen continues to live on today."

The retired chief visited the center to specifically see Grace Peterson Hall, which was dedicated in her honor in 2004. However, she was unable to make the ceremony six years ago and only now was able to make the trip in conjunction with a visit to the National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., from her home in Florida.

"I joined (the military) because of the horrors of Pearl Harbor and I felt I had to do something about it," Peterson said during a question and answer session with Col. Kimberly Corcoran, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center vice commander. "I was hoping I could do a good job and last a long time."

Peterson entered military service in New York City soon after the Dec. 7, 1941 attack that thrust America into the World War II, she joined what was then called the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942.

According to a historical brief presented by Chief Master Sgt. Sherry Rossi, 305th Maintenance Group superintendant, Peterson was made an instructor and eventually first sergeant only one year later. Additionally, she was not only the first female chief master sergeant; she was part of the original group of senior NCOs to be selected for the rank of E-9.

"Due to budget concerns, the Air Force's first group of E-9s was promoted in December of 1959 and the second group was promoted in April 1960," Sherry said. "They were all selected in the same group; just promoted in two different cycles."

Regardless, Peterson was the first and only woman selected for the rank that year and was among the Air Force's first chief master sergeants.

"Chief Peterson, like all of the other senior NCOS serving with her at the time, made rank quickly because as result of World War II, the Army Air Forces and later U.S. Air Force had so many technical experts amongst the enlisted corps but the service needed leaders with a broad range of skills who could take on many responsibilities," Sherry said. "I'd like to thank (Chief Peterson) for (her) courage, leadership and vision."
Devereaux agreed.

"Our master sergeants in the earliest days of the Air Force had no senior master sergeants or chiefs," he said. "There were no role models for them, so the first group had to set the standard for how they were supposed to be."

The visit was Peterson's first to the Expeditionary Center or Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst since she retired from the former McGuire Air Force Base in 1963. She noted that the Airmen she saw were "Very fantastic and great; simply great" and it was good to be back after such a long time.

"You all have accomplished so much and are accomplishing so much more," she said.

The building the Expeditionary Center occupies, 5656, was used primarily as a military entrance processing station and the Grace Peterson Hall auditorium was used as a chapel and indoctrination area where military members would recite the oath of enlistment, according to Greg Hannon, the EC historian. Military members have been processed in this area since 1917, he noted.

Building 5656 was turned over to the Air Force in 1994 with the creation of the Air Mobility Warfare Center, the EC's predecessor organization, and in 1998, then-commander Brig. Gen. William Welzer proposed naming the auditorium after Peterson. Renovations began in 2001 and, 44 years after the day she retired, it was named after the chief.

Devereaux closed with noting that Peterson's accomplishments were not only successes for women in the military but for diversity across the entire service.

"If you look out into this crowd today," he said to Peterson. "You would see that our strength as a service is based on a group of Airmen who reflect the diversity of our great nation."