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Show Pioneers New Field For Women i t ; 1 ?f I WAVES Barbara Stevenson, specialist gunner third class, will instruct naval cadets, aviatirs and gunners at the U. S. Naval air station, Corpus Christi, Tex. in aerial gunnery prior to their reporting for duty in a combat zone. Miss Stevenson, daughter of Mrs. Victoria Stevenson, 665 Roosevelt avenue, is one of 20 WAVES recently graduated from the naval aerial gunnery school at Pensacola, Fla., the first members mem-bers of the women's naval reserve re-serve to learn this type of work. Home on leave for a few days, Miss Stevenson, who left Thursday Thurs-day morning to report to her new station, received her "boot" training train-ing at the U. S. naval training school in the Bronx, New York City. From there she reported to Pensacola for six weeks of instruction in-struction in gunnery. She pioneered in the field, paving the way for other WAVES to take the course, and she and her 19 WAVE-com-panions were the first women in the navy to receive the rating of "specialist gunner." "It's the most thrilling job I've ever done," she said, "and although al-though it was difficult and technical tech-nical work, I've never regretted it a minute." She will be the only woman aerial gunnery instructor at the Corpus Christi naval air station, and following instruction from her, her pupils will be ready for action in the combat zones of the war. Miss Stevenson wa3 employed by the W. E. Bintz company before be-fore she joined the navy in August, Aug-ust, 1943. She spent her short leave visiting family ad friends "and urging my friends to join the WAVES," she added. "Girls are missing out on the greatest adventure and experience of their lives bv not enlisting in the WAVES." Further information concerning concern-ing the women's reserve program may be obtained at the WAVE recruiting office, room 315, Federal Fed-eral building, or the WAVES information in-formation center, 71 East Broad- |