Friends Annual Luncheon 1989

Lt. Col. Yvonne C. Pateman, USAF (Ret) was the speaker at the Friends’ annual luncheon meeting. She discussed the WASP (Women’s Airforce Service Pilots) Program and the extensive collection of WASP archival materials she donated to the Academy Library. Collection HERE.

Colonel Pat Pateman had a long distinguished flying career during which she logged over 5000 hours. In 1943 she was one of 2000 women accepted for flight training in the WASP program. During World War II, she flew as an engineering test pilot and as an aircraft ferrying pilot. Following the war, she delivered civilian aircraft from factories to airfields throughout the United States. Then she became chief flight instructor at Culver City Airport in California. In the Korean War, Pat was commissioned in the Air Force and served as an intelligence officer during her 20-year career. Her assignments included service in the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, and the Defense intelligence Agency in Washington where she served as the chief of the China Air and Missile Section.