be attractive enough to have provided an incentive for young women to join the CNC. The official outdoor uniforms—with the exception of blouse, gloves, shoes, and stockings—were supplied to the cadets by the institution in which they were enrolled. The students paid for the excluded items. The indoor or work uniforms varied from school to school; these were purchased by the school from federal grants. The insignia of the CNC was the Maltese Cross. The insignia was worn on the left shoulder of the uniforms and on the student nurse uniform of the official school of nursing. The USPHS official insignia was worn on the jacket lapels and was also present on the silver buttons. On the Montgomery beret, the USPHS insignia was worn beneath the spread eagle and the American Shield. Wearing the CNC outdoor uniforms was optional for all cadets, except when instructed to do otherwise. Training The participating schools of nursing were required to compress the traditional nursing program to 30 instead of 36 months, and they were to provide students with the four clinical experiences of medicine: surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics. The students became senior cadets in their last six months before graduation, requiring them to serve in a federal or civilian hospital where they provided the equivalent services to those of a graduate nurse. During their first nine months of training, cadets were protected by regulation from working on the hospital wards for more than 24 hours each week. Junior cadets typically worked between 40 and 48 hours each week, including classes; senior cadets were free of classes. All state boards of nursing modified their regulations to agree with the accelerated program. The quality and standards of the educational systems in which cadets would be trained varied considerably. In 1943, nursing schools, hospital administrators, and government officials assured the U.S. Congress the federally subsidized training of nurses would conform to the minimum standards. With his rule-making powers, the surgeon general issued these regulations:The school had to be accredited by the appropriate accrediting agency for schools of nursing in the state or territory; An institution offering a degree in nursing had to be accredited by the appropriate accrediting agency for universities and colleges. The school had to be connected with a hospital that had been approved by the American College of Surgeons, or that maintained standards of nursing equivalent to those required by the college. In