In 1943 and 1944, Nell Bright served in World War II as one of hundreds of Women Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), who were tasked with testing and ferrying aircraft for training. She had taken flying lessons after college and had a private license by the time the United States entered the war. She trained in Sweetwater and then flew a number of missions out of Biggs Field in El Paso, Texas, often towing targets for male pilots to practice shooting. WASP was considered civil service, and its pilots did not receive veteran status until 1977.