Ola Mildred Rexroat

The only known Native American to serve in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) was Ola Mildred Rexroat. Ola's mother was an Oglala Lakota, and she lived in Kansas and South Dakota, before eventually earning her B.A. from the University of New Mexico.

During the Second World War, Rexroat joined the WASPs, and received training at Sweetwater, Texas. In the WASPs, Ola flew cargo and fighter aircraft, in addition to flying aircraft that towed targets for aerial gunnery training. After her service with the WASPs, she joined the Air Corps (later Air Force) and worked as an air traffic controller, a job which she continued with the FAA.  

A WASP flying a Douglas A-24 towing a target in the same manner Ola did.  This was one of the more hazardous jobs for the WASPs.

Shortly after her death in 2017, the airfield operations building at Ellsworth Air Force Base was named after Ola Rexroat.

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San Diego Air & Space Museum

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