Jackie Cochran was born Bessie L. Pittman on May 11, 1906, in Muscogee, Florida. She received her private pilot's license in 1932, and flew in many air races before World War II. Cochran flew for the British Air Transport Auxiliary shortly before America entered the war, and then served as director for women's flight training for the United States early in 1942. She then joined the Army Air Forces where she established the 319th Women's Flying Training Detachment at Municipal Airport in Houston, Texas, in September 1942, and commanded the unit until it merged into the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) in July 1943. She commanded the WASPs until they were disbanded in December 1944, and she then left the service. Cochran joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve on September 9, 1948, and was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force until her retirement on May 11, 1970. During her time in the reserves, Col Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound when she exceeded Mach 1 on May 18, 1953. She was also the first woman to land and take off from an aircraft carrier and the first woman to exceed Mach 2. Jackie Cochran was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1971. She died on August 10, 1980. Jackie was married to Floyd B. Odlum from May 11, 1936, until his death on June 17, 1976. She still holds more aviation records than any other person in history, some of which include: First woman to make a blind landing, awarded 15 Clifford Burke Harmon International Trophies as the outstanding woman flyer in the world starting in 1937, won first place in the Bendix Transcontinental race in 1938, awarded the William E. Mitchell Memorial Award as the person making the greatest contribution to aviation in 1938, established a women's national altitude record in 1939, broke the international open-class speed record for men and women in 1939, won the New York-to-Miami Air Race in 1939, broke the 2,000 kilometer international speed record and the 100 kilometer national speed record in 1940, was the first woman to pilot a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean in June 1941, was President of the 99s (the organization of women aviators) from 1941 to 1943, became the only woman ever to have earned the Gold Medal from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in 1953, became the first woman ever awarded the Air Force Association Award for distinguished civilian service in 1957, became the only woman ever to serve as President of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale from 1958 to 1961, became the first woman to fly a jet airplane across the Atlantic Ocean in 1962, and she became the first living woman enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1971.