Irene O. Galloway

World War II

Irene Galloway was born on September 1, 1908, in Templeton to Franklin and Rosa (Reicher) Galloway. She attended Sacred Heart School and Sacred Heart High School for two years in Templeton before graduating from St. Joseph’s Academy in Des Moines. She attended Boyles Business College in Omaha, NE and, later, the University of Maryland.

Irene enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in June, 1942, and graduated with the second officer candidate class at Fort Des Moines in September, 1942. She was assigned serial number L-702007. By July 1, 1943, the “auxiliary” was dropped and the service became the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). On September 1, 1943, she formally joined the WAC and was promoted to the rank of Major.

Irene was posted to the War Department and toured England, France and the Middle East from October 8, 1944, to December 24, 1944, as a part of her duties. On August 2, 1948, she was promoted to the temporary rank of Lieutenant Colonel and two months later was integrated into the Regular Army as a Major. She was assigned the new serial number of L-50 (indicative of her status as one of the first to serve). She served as an advisor to the US Army European Command at Heidelberg, Germany for the next four years. During that time, she was promoted to the permanent rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

In November, 1952, Irene was selected as the commander of the WAC Training Center at Fort Lee, VA. However, a few weeks later, she was notified that she had been selected as the new Director of the Women’s Army Corps and was sworn in on January 3, 1953. This position included a promotion to full Colonel. During her tenure as Director, Fort Clellan, AL became the permanent home of the WAC.

Her time in the Pentagon continued and, in 1957, she assumed additional duties as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for legislative affairs. She retired from the military in November, 1961 as a Colonel. Within a few months, she was recalled to active duty to serve on President John Kennedy’s Commission on the Status of Women. The chairperson of this Commission was Eleanor Roosevelt.

The Women’s Army Corps was disbanded in 1978 when women were fully integrated into the US Army. A street and a gate at Fort McClellan were named in honor of Colonel Galloway. Fort McClellan was closed in 1999 but part of that base is still used by the Alabama National Guard.

Irene was forced to resign from the President’s Commission on the Status of Women during December, 1962, due to ill health. She died on January 6, 1963, in Washington, DC of cancer at age 54. She never married. She was buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Templeton.