Women in the United States Navy
Timeline of women in the United States Navy

Women in the United States Navy

Section Title: Timeline of women in the United States Navy
Table Section Text: None

Year	Event

1908	The Navy Nurse Corps was established; it was all-female until 1965.

1917	Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels announced that the navy would enlist women on 17 March.

1917	Loretta Perfectus Walsh became the first woman to enlist in the navy on 17 March.

1942	President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Public Law 689 creating the navy’s women reserve program on 30 July 1942.

1942	Lieutenant Commander Mildred H. McAfee, USNR, director of the WAVES, became the navy’s first female line officer.

1944	Lieutenant Harriet Ida Pickens and Ensign Frances Wills were commissioned as the first African-American female navy officers.

1944	Sue Dauser, the director of the Navy Nurse Corps, became the first female captain in the navy.

1948	On 15 October 1948, the first eight women were commissioned in the regular Navy: Joy Bright Hancock, Winifred Quick Collins, Ann King, Frances Willoughby, Ellen Ford, Doris Cranmore, Doris Defenderfer, and Betty Rae Tennant took their oaths as naval officers.

1959	Yeoman Anna Der-Vartanian was the first woman in the navy promoted to master chief petty officer, and the first woman in the armed services promoted to E-9.

1961	Lieutenant Charlene I. Suneson became the first line WAVES officer to be ordered to shipboard duty.

1967	Public Law 90-130 was signed into law; it removed legal ceilings on women's promotions that had kept them out of the general and flag ranks, and dropped the two percent ceiling on officer and enlisted strengths for women in the armed forces.

1972	Roseanne Roberts became the first female helicopter captain in the Navy.

1972	Alene Duerk became the first female admiral in the navy.

1973	Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S.

1974	Lieutenant Junior Grade Barbara Ann (Allen) Rainey became the first navy woman to earn her wings on 22 February 1974.

1974	The first women were commissioned through NROTC.

1975	Schlesinger v. Ballard, 419 U.S.

1976	Fran McKee became the navy's first female unrestricted line flag officer.

1978	Navy Nurse Joan C. Bynum became the first black woman promoted to the rank of Captain.

1978	Judge John Sirica ruled the law banning navy women from ships to be unconstitutional in the case Owens v. Brown.

1979	Lieutenant Lynn Spruill became the first female navy pilot qualified to land on aircraft carriers.

1979	The first woman in the navy to qualify as a surface warfare officer did so this year.

1980	The first women graduated from the Naval Academy. There were 81 women in the class of 1980 at the Naval Academy, and 55 of them graduated.

1984	Kristine Holderied became the first female valedictorian of the Naval Academy.

1990	Rear Admiral Marsha J. Evans became the first woman to command a Naval Station.

1990	Lieutenant Commander Darlene Iskra became the first navy woman to command a ship, USS Opportune (ARS-41).

1991	The Tailhook scandal occurred, in which Navy (and Marine Corps) aviators were accused of sexually assaulting 83 women (and 7 men) at the Tailhook convention in Las Vegas.

1993	Before the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was enacted in 1993, lesbians and bisexual women (and gay men and bisexual men) were banned from serving in the military.

1995	USS Benfold is the first destroyer to be built to accommodate females.

1996	Patricia Tracey became the first female three-star officer (vice admiral) in the navy.

1998	CDR Maureen A. Farren became the first woman to command a combatant ship in the navy.

1998	Lillian Fishburne became the first African-American woman promoted to flag rank in the navy.

2006	Carol M. Pottenger became the first woman to command an expeditionary strike group in the navy.

2010	Nora Tyson became the first woman to command a carrier strike group in the navy.

2011	The "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was ended in 2011, thus putting an end to service members (including but not limited to female service members) being expelled from the military if they engaged in sexual conduct with a member of the same sex, stated that they were lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and/or married or attempted to marry someone of the same sex.

2011	The first group of female submariners in the navy completed nuclear power school and officially reported on board two ballistic and two guided missile submarines in November 2011.

2012	Commander Monika Washington Stoker became the first African American woman to take command of a navy missile destroyer.

2012	Five "Tigertails" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron One Two Five (VAW-125), embarked aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) as part of Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17), flew an historic flight on 25 January when they participated in the navy's first all-female E-2C Hawkeye combat mission.

2012	On 22 June 2012, a sailor assigned to USS Ohio (SSGN-726) became the first female supply officer to qualify in submarines in the navy.

2012	On 5 December 2012, three sailors assigned to USS Maine (SSBN-741) and USS Wyoming (SSBN-742) became the first female unrestricted line officers to qualify in submarines in the navy.

2012	Robin Braun became the first female commander of the Navy Reserve, making her the first female three star aviator and the first woman to lead any Reserve component of the military.

2014	Michelle J. Howard became the first female four-star admiral in the navy.

2014	Jan E. Tighe became the first woman to command a numbered fleet when she assumed command of the navy's Tenth Fleet on April 2, 2014.

2014	In July 2014, Marine Corps Captain Katie Higgins became the first female pilot to join the Blue Angels, the navy's flight demonstration squadron.

2015	Nora Tyson was installed as the commander of the navy’s Third Fleet, making her the first woman to lead a navy operational fleet.

2015	Cheryl Hansen became the first female commander of the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport, Mississippi.

2015	In December 2015, Defense Secretary Ash Carter stated that starting in 2016 all combat jobs would open to women.

2016	In March 2016, Defense Secretary Ash Carter approved final plans from military service branches and the U.S. Special Operations Command to open all combat jobs to women, and authorized the military to begin integrating female combat soldiers "right away."

2016	It was announced on June 30, 2016 that, beginning on that date, otherwise qualified United States service members could not any longer be discharged, denied reenlistment, involuntarily separated, or denied continuation of service because of being transgender (including but not limited to transgender women).

2016	In August 2016, Dominique Saavedra became the first enlisted female sailor to earn her submarine qualification.

2018	Beginning on January 1, 2018, openly transgender people (including but not limited to transgender women) were allowed to join the military.

Sentence(s)

On 22 June 2012, a sailor assigned to USS Ohio (SSGN-726) became the first female supply officer to qualify in U.S. submarines.

final_sentence: On 22 June 2012, a sailor assigned to USS Ohio (SSGN-726) became the first female supply officer to qualify in U.S. submarines.