 In May 1941, a Massachusetts congresswoman named Edith Rogers introduced a bill establishing the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. Spurred on by the attack on Pearl Harbor, Congress passed the bill a year later, and on July 20, 1942, the first WAC trainees arrived at Fort Des Moines. The WAC was established for the purpose of making available to the National Defense the knowledge, skill, and special training of the women of the nation.