During World War I, after attending business school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she enlisted in the Navy as a Yeoman (F), serving at Camden, New Jersey and at Naval Air Station Wildwood.

In 1924, she left the Bureau to marry Lieutenant Commander Lewis Hancock, Jr., who lost his life when airship USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) crashed in September 1925.

Joy Bright Hancock returned to the Bureau after attending Foreign Service School and obtaining a private pilot's license.

She initially served as WAVES representative in the Bureau of Aeronautics and later in a similar position for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air).

The commendation reads:“…Discharging with zeal, leadership and judgment her many responsibilities, Commander Hancock assumed an important role in the development, expansion and administration of the comprehensive program designed to integrate women in the Naval Service and utilize their various skills.