The WAVES served in 900 shore stations in the continental United States. Initially, they were prohibited from serving on ships or outside of the country. In September 1944, the Congress amended the law by allowing the WAVES to volunteer for service in the territories of Alaska and Hawaii. Hawaii was the only overseas station staffed with the WAVES on a permanent basis. The officers were employed in such professions as doctors, attorneys, engineers, mathematicians, and chaplains. One WAVE mathematician, Grace Hopper, was assigned to Harvard University to work on the computation project with the Mark I computer. Elsa Gardner became the only female nautical engineer in the entire U.S. Navy. Most enlisted WAVES worked in jobs traditionally performed by women, such as clerical work, health care, or storekeeping. A few took over jobs typically held by men, in occupations like aviation machinists, aviation metalsmiths, parachute riggers, control tower operators, radio operators, yeomen, or statisticians.