and Flight Nurse warfare badges. Select Navy Nurse Corps officers are eligible to wear special-warfare insignia. Officers selected to formally serve as executive assistants to flag officers or congressional leaders may be eligible to wear an aiguillette and/or unique insignia. Navy Nurse Corps officers can also earn the Army Combat Badge but are not currently authorized to wear it. Executive-grade Navy Nurse Corps officers who have, or had, command of an installation or commissioned unit ashore are eligible to wear the Navy Command Ashore insignia. Navy Nurse Corps officers who have had command of a hospital ship are authorized to wear the Navy Command at Sea insignia. Superintendents and directors From its founding in 1908 until after World War II in 1947, the Navy Nurse Corps was led by a superintendent. Its nurses had no permanent commissioned rank during that time. The Army-Navy Nurses Act took effect on 16 April 1947, establishing the Navy Nurse Corps as a staff corps, with officers holding permanent commissioned rank from Ensign to Commander. The corps was to be led by a director holding the rank of Captain while in that position. This position later evolved into a flag-rank appointment and there can be up to four Navy Nurse Corps flag-rank officers serving concurrently, . List of superintendents of the Navy Nurse Corps List of directors of the Navy Nurse Corps Prominent members Ships named after Navy Nurse Corps officers The Navy has so far named two warships in honor of Navy Nurse Corps officers, both for Supt. Lenah Higbee; , a commissioned in 1945.. This was the first U.S. Navy warship to bear the name of one of its female members. , a planned guided missile destroyer scheduled to enter the fleet in 2024. Ships named after nurses See also United States Army Nurse Corps United States Air Force Nurse Corps History of nursing in the United States Women in the United States Navy Angels of Bataan References Further reading Fact filled, extensively researched account of the evolution of the roles of women in the United States Navy, treating the parallel and entertwined paths of the Navy Nurse Corps and the WAVES. About one-third of the pages are devoted to notes and bibliography. External links Navy Nurse Corps Official Homepage on Navy Knowledge Online Nurse Corps. Navy.com (Health Care Opportunities). Retrieved 2009-12-05. Navy Nurse Corps history and uniforms in color – WWII US