Army Nurse Corps

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The history of the ANC is defined by a struggle for professional recognition and inclusion. Initially formed under the Army Reorganization Act of 1901, nurses served for three-year terms but were not commissioned officers until 46 years later. Dita H. Kinney became the first Superintendent on March 15, 1901, leading a corps that hovered around 100 active-duty nurses in its early years. During World War I, the military recruited 20,000 registered women to staff hospitals and ambulance companies on the Western Front. The interwar period saw eligibility restricted to white, unmarried female graduates until the Korean War forced the integration of male nurses due to frontline needs. Racial barriers also fell slowly; only a few African American nurses were admitted during World War II, with Della H. Raney becoming the first black nurse commissioned as a second lieutenant in April 1941 after pressure from Mabel Keaton Staupers and Eleanor Roosevelt.

In Their Own Story

In December 1909, Dita H. Kinney resigned as Superintendent, marking the end of an era that began just eight years prior with the Corps' formal establishment. The transition to full officer status was a decades-long battle; although the 1920 Army Reorganization Act granted nurses relative rank and insignia, they remained non-commissioned until 1947. During World War II, Colonel Flikke managed a headquarters of only four officers and 25 civilians while supervising a massive wartime expansion. She strictly recruited unmarried women aged 22–30 from civilian schools, discharging any who married or became pregnant. The conflict also brought Chinese nurses to the front lines in Kunming, including Rebecca Chan Chung and Daisy Pui-Ying Chan, who served with the Flying Tigers and U.S. Army after fleeing Hong Kong. By 1943, the limit on African American nurses was set at 160, allowing the deployment of the first black medical unit, the 25th Station Hospital Unit, to Liberia.

Reader's Guide

To qualify for the Army Nurse Corps today, applicants must hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from an accredited program and possess an unrestricted Registered Nurse (RN) license prior to commissioning. The ANC consists entirely of commissioned officers with specific Areas of Concentration (AOC), such as Public Health Nurse (66B), Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse (66C), and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (66F). Additional Skill Identifiers (ASIs) designate specialized expertise, including Critical Care Nurse (8A) and Nurse Midwife (8D). Leadership is currently headed by BG James D. Burk as Chief of the Army Nurse Corps and FORSCOM Command Surgeon, with COL Jodelle Schroeder serving as Deputy Chief. The mission remains to provide responsive, innovative, and evidence-based nursing care integrated on the Army Medicine Team to enhance readiness and preserve life.

Did You Know?

• The ANC was formally established by Congress on February 2, 1901, but nurses were not commissioned as officers until April 16, 1947.
• Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee is considered the founder of the Army Nurse Corps after writing the legislation that created it following the Spanish-American War.
• During World War I, more than 10,000 nurses served overseas while 5,400 enrolled in the Army's new School of Nursing.
• The first black nurse admitted to the program was Della H. Raney, commissioned as a second lieutenant in April 1941.
• Male nurses were excluded from the ANC until the Korean War, when male doctors emphasized their need on the front lines.