And the band plays on: it was the first—and last—all-female Air Force band

Airman, March, 2005 by Chuck Roberts

After the Women's Armed Services Integration Act went into effect in 1948, more women needed to be enticed into joining the recently formed Air Force as permanent, regular members.

Hoping to drum up more interest, the Women in the Air Force Band was formed in 1951 and spent the next 10 years logging more than 500,000 miles performing in front of students and troops everywhere from the Arctic Circle to Puerto Rico before being disbanded.

But it was slow going in the beginning. Male bands had been firmly entrenched in military heritage for decades, but a female band had to be built from scratch. Notices were posted in basic training barracks for women who could play a musical instrument.

Phoebe Smithback was among thousands of basic trainees stretching Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, to the seams in 1951 prior to the start of the Korean War. She auditioned even though she hadn't touched a baritone in five years.

When Ms. Smithback, who was slated for a career in radar electronics, finished playing, the male band member who auditioned her said she could be in the band. "What band?" she recalled replying.

This past October, Ms. Smithback joined 53 former WAF band members in Dallas for their eighth reunion.

Unlike most reunions where the focus is on sharing fond memories, these ladies showed up armed with oboes, clarinets and trombones ready to pick up where they left off more than 40 years ago. After a few days of intense rehearsal, band members ranging in age from 62 to 80 headed to the State Fair of Texas to perform near the same venue where many of them performed in 1954.

"It sounds like the devil. You think, 'Oh my God, it'll never happen,'" Sharon Harper said of that first rehearsal at each year's reunion. And though their movement has slowed and their appearance has altered over the years ("Thank God for name tags," quipped Annie Everitt, the band's senior statesman at 80), their sound is still vibrant and appreciated by state fair listeners. They included Lowell Worthington, a 71-year-old former Army sergeant from Carrollton, Texas, who was a 19-year-old engineer during the Korean War.

"I think it was exciting to see them so full of life. I think it just helps bring us together--democrats and republicans--and to cheer on old values," said the psychologist after the morning performance. He planned to be back for the afternoon session.

Band of sisters

Their music is also good medicine for band members.

"I'm 20 years old again for the week," said Ms. Smithback, a 78-year-old former technical sergeant. She was No. 23 of the 235 women who served during the band's decade-long existence, and she's one of few who served from beginning to end.

The band averaged about 50 musicians, but their ranks were constantly thinned due to marriage or those opting to cross-train or separate after a few years on the road.

They were on the road about 80 percent of the time performing at school concerts, the Kentucky Derby, the Orange Parade, presidential inauguration parades, Mardi Gras, radio, television, and many less glamorous locations wherever young Airmen could be found. Their trips ranged from traveling in the back of a convertible and staying in a nice hotel to long, hot bus rides and being lodged in a stockade, said Sandee McClammy, a baritone player from Mesquite, Texas. She was in the band from 1954 to 1956 before cross-training as a personnel technician.

She recalled a long, bumpy ride in the back of a C-47 to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. Despite the wear and tear of travel and having to wear a parachute, Ms. McClammy said the band's revered director, Capt. Mary Belle Nissly, demanded an impeccable appearance at all times. Shoes had to be shined so lustrously the owner could see the reflection of her face. Skirts were starched so heavily they could stand by themselves. Performances were sometimes conducted standing up so as not to wrinkle their blue and white seersucker uniforms. Other uniform combinations included dress whites, dress blue pants with the Ike jacket, and dress blues in winter. So when their plane finally touched down in the Alaskan outback, out marched 50 snappily dressed and smiling musicians to the tune of "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody," being played by the base's male band.

After performing for the troops, band members were expected to socialize with the audience, which meant dancing. For Ms. McClammy, she said it meant wearing her sturdy Li'l Abner high-top shoes to protect her toes from Fred Astaire wannabes.

On a high note

"This band was a hit wherever it went ... we were special. We still are special," said Ms. Harper. She joined as an 18-year-old when a wave of patriotism came over her during a recruiter's visit to her high school toward the end of the Korean War. Plus, she added with a smile, she knew that Air Force blues would set off her blond hair and blue eyes.

The young clarinet player said she loved the feeling of making people happy with their music, but the band also competed with her love of softball, which she wasn't allowed to play as a band member because of risk of injury to her hands. She also cross-trained and became a clerk--one of the "girlie career fields" she had hoped to avoid by joining the band. She got out of the Air Force in 1958 to raise a family, but her love of wearing Air Force blues never faded.