Barbara A. Bateman
Bio
Barbara A. Bateman was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in Ohio. Upon completion of high school, she joined the United States Air Force in 1952, serving until her marriage in 1954. While in the U.S. Air Force, she was first a parachute rigger and later worked with pilots, flight records, and schedules during her assignment in Waco, Texas. She remembers her time in the U.S. Air Force fondly and expresses it was a great way to “grow up” and be of service to her country. She is happy for the opportunities afforded women in today’s military and wishes she had the opportunities to be a pilot and to jump out of airplanes.
Video Clips
Training for Her Job
Barbara Bateman shares her job training sent her to Illinois where she learned how to rig parachutes. She recounts her experience of "falling" out of the aircraft while practicing with dummies in the airplane and almost being courtmartialed for it. She describes the process of rigging a parachute, and after her six-week job training, she shares she was sent to Waco, Texas.
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Types of Parachutes and Working on the Flight Line
Barbara Bateman describes the types of parachutes utilized and how where one was located in the plane determined the type of parachute worn. She explains how when she reported to Waco, all the parachute rigors were civilians, leading to her assignment to the flight line. She explains how this role meant she kept track of records and fitted trainees with equipment before flights. She discusses how she worked with pilots, keeping current with flight hours as well as foreign pilots training in the T-33 fighter jet.
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Finding Ways to Fly and Living Conditions
Barbara Bateman discusses her experience of being able to fly in B-25s and B-29s as the pilots logged their flight hours. She shares how much she loved flying and wishes women were allowed to be pilots when she was in the U.S. Air Force. She recalls how there were eight thousand men and one hundred women on base in Waco and shares that men and women had different mess halls, barracks, and even went on different marches.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cj6KswuaZA&start=800&end=1087
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/barbara-a-bateman#clip-3
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High Altitude Equipment, Foreign Pilots, and Plane Crashes
Barbara Bateman describes the equipment needed to parachute out of a plane at high altitude due to lack of oxygen. She recalls how she checked that equipment fit properly and that pilots knew how to properly hook up their equipment. She remembers how, even though the pilots spoke English, it was sometimes difficult to communicate. She explains how, occasionally, they would have to go to crash sites and presents a time a pilot was flying upside down. She shares the pilot panicked and attempted to eject while upside down and was killed.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cj6KswuaZA&start=1185&end=1408
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/barbara-a-bateman#clip-4
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