United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve
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In 1918, the Secretary of Navy allowed women to enroll for clerical duty in the Marine Corps. Officially, Opha Mae Johnson is credited as the first woman Marine. Johnson enrolled for service on August 13, 1918; during that year some 300 women first entered the Marine Corps to take over stateside clerical duties from battle-ready Marines who were needed overseas. The Marine Corps Women's Reserve was established in February 1943. June 12, 1948, the United States Congress passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act and made women a permanent part of the regular Marine Corps.
In 1950, the Women Reserves were mobilized for the Korean War and 2,787 women were called to active duty. By the height of the Vietnam War, there were about 2,700 women Marines served both stateside and overseas. By 1975, the Corps approved the assignment of women to all occupational fields except infantry, artillery, armor and pilot/air crew. Over 1,000 women Marines were deployed in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991.
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[edit] Minnie Spotted-Wolf
Private Minnie Spotted-Wolf of Heart Butte, Montana, enlisted in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve in July 1943. She was the first female American Indian to enroll in the Corps. Minnie had worked on her father's ranch doing such chores as cutting fence posts, driving a two-ton truck, and breaking horses. Her comment on Marine boot camp: "Hard but not too hard."
[edit] Reserves
The United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve (USMCWR) was established on July 30, 1942 as part of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. The mission of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve was to provide qualified women for duty at shore establishments of the Marine Corps, releasing men for combat duty.
[edit] Multiple tasks
The first group of women officers was given direct commissions based on ability and civilian expertise. These women were given no formal indoctrination or schooling, but went on active duty immediately. Women Marines were assigned to over 200 different jobs, among them radio operator, photographer, parachute rigger, driver, aerial gunnery instructor, cook, baker, quartermaster, control tower operator, motion picture operator, auto mechanic, telegraph operator, cryptographer, laundry operator, post exchange manager, stenographer, and agriculturist.
The first director of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve was Mrs. Ruth Cheney Streeter from Morristown, New Jersey. By the end of World War II, 85% of the enlisted personnel assigned to Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps were women.
[edit] Retention for active duty
On June 7, 1946, Commandant of the Marine Corps General Alexander A. Vandegrift approved the retention of a small number of women on active duty. They would serve as a trained nucleus for possible mobilization emergencies. The demobilization of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve, 17,640 enlisted and 820 officers, was to be completed by September 1, 1946. Of the 20,000 women who joined the Marine Corps during World War II, only 1,000 remained in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve by July 1, 1946.
[edit] Timeline
- 1918 -- Pvt. Opha Mae Johnson becomes the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps Reserve
- 1943 -- Colonel Ruth Cheney Streeter first Director of Women Marine Reservists
- 1943 -- Captain Anne Lentz, first commissioned officer
- 1943 -- Private Lucille McClarren first enlisted woman
- 1945 -- first detachment of women Marines arrives in Hawaii for duty
- 1948 -- Colonel Katherine A. Towle first Director of Women Marines
- 1961 -- The first woman Marine is promoted to Sergeant Major (E-9).
- 1965 -- The Marine Corps assigns the first woman to attachÚ duty. Later, she is the first woman Marine to serve under hostile fire.
- 1978 -- Colonel Margaret A. Brewer was the first woman Marine general officer
- 1979 -- The Marine Corps assigns women as embassy guards.
- 1985 -- Colonel Gail M. Reals, the first woman selected by a board of general officers to be advanced to brigadier general
- 1992 -- Brigadier General Carol A. Mutter assumed command of the 3d Force Service Support Group, Okinawa, the first woman to command a Fleet Marine Force unit at the flag level
- 1993 -- 2d Lieutenant Sarah Deal became the first woman Marine selected for Naval aviation training
- 1993 -- The Marine Corps opens pilot positions to women.
- 1994 -- Brigadier General Mutter became the first woman major general in the Marine Corps and the senior woman on active duty in the armed services
- 1995 -- The first female Marine pilot pins on Naval flight wings.
- 1996 -- Lieutenant General Mutter became the first woman Marine and the second woman in the history of the armed services to wear three stars
- Today -- Women serve in 93 percent of all occupational fields and 62 percent of all billets. Women constitute 6.2 percent of the Corps end strength and are an integral part of the Marine Corps.
[edit] See also
| United States Marine Corps Portal |
[edit] References
- Navy & Marine Corps World War II Commemorative Committee. Article: Women in the Marine Corps. Archived from the original on 2006-05-06. Retrieved on 2006-01-11.
[edit] External links
- USMCWR history and WWII women's uniforms in color — WWII US women's service organizations (WAC, WAVES, ANC, NNC, USMCWR, PHS, SPARS, ARC and WASP)
