Janet Sabastian Cox, Kauai’s first woman soldier

In February 1973, Janet Sebastian Cox (1938-2009) of Hanapepe broke the male barrier of the Hawaii National Guard on Kauai — specifically the 150th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron — by becoming the first female accepted into the unit.

“I don’t know if the squadron was ready for me, but I know I was ready to see if I could compete in a man’s world of ACW operations,” she said at the time of her pioneering achievement.

She also noted that “The National Guard is like any other kind of part-time job, and we are beginning to see that women are interested in this kind of work.”

After her swearing-in ceremony, led by Hawaii Adjutant General Benjamin J. Webster, Master Sgt. Lawrence Sugihara –  her immediate supervisor in the 150th ACW — commented enthusiastically: “Terrific! She’s going to be a fine addition to our team. I understand she’s an extremely organized worker and a fantastic typist. We are happy to have her with us.”

Staff Sgt. Cox then went on to complete Air National Guard training at the Basic Radar Operators School at Keesler AFB, Mississippi to qualify as an administrative specialist/radar operator technician.

Over the years, her duties with the Hawaii Air National Guard also included temporary assignments in the Continental United States and Korea.

Born on Oahu and raised on Kauai by her grandparents, Basilio and Pastora Sebastian, Cox enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps after graduating from Waimea High School in 1956 and served in the Army administration field on the Mainland and in Japan.

Following her service in the Army, she returned home to Kauai in 1959 and was eventually hired on a full-time basis at Barking Sands by the Navy Air Systems Command as a classified documents clerk.

Janet Sebastian Cox and her husband, Clyde Cox, had two children: Clyde Jr. and Susan Cox.