CHAPTER 8

Reserves After Kore a

Deactivation of the WR Platoons—Woman Special Enlistment Program—Strengt h

Women Reserve Officers—Formal Training for Women Reservists

Following the Korean War, the Woman Marine Organized Reserve program was reestablished and expanded. The extraordinary success of the original 1 3

platoons activated in 1949-1950 and mobilized by Au -

gust 1950 demonstrated the wisdom and practicality

of the plan to maintain a trained cadre of women . Accordingly, when the Reservists completed their tour

of duty and the Korean emergency neared settlement,

Headquarters set an objective of 18 women's platoons

having a strength of two officers and 50 enlisted women each.

Their mission explicitly was ". . . to provide traine d

women reservists to meet initial mobilization needs

of the Marine Corps"' To this end, each of these post -

Korean platoons was assigned a specialty determine d

by mobilization needs. The original plans called fo r

units trained in administration, supply, classification ,

and disbursing . In 1953, First Lieutenant Margaret A .

Brewer, a future Director of Women Marines, organized a communication platoon of 10 officers an d

47 enlisted women in Brooklyn, bringing the total up

to 19 WR units. Later, a 20th platoon was activate d

in Miami, Florida . Unlike the pre-Korea Reserve program, these women not only participated in formal

specialty training at their home armory, but they at -

tended summer training at Marine Corps posts and

stations.

The WR platoons were attached to the parent

Reserve unit and came under the command of th e

male commanding officer. Women officers were designated as platoon leaders and assistant platoon leaders, but were commonly referred to as the

commanding officer and executive officer by the women members. Active duty women Marines, one office r

and one or two enlisted women were assigned to th e

inspector-instructor staff to assist the Reserve platoo n

leader.

The women's platoon was responsible for its own

internal administration, recruitment, adherence t o

rank and military occupational specialty distributio n

of the members, training, and mobilization state of

readiness. Additionally, to make up for the increase d

work of the parent unit caused by the WR platoon,

the women were directed to assume part of the administrative work of the male organization .

Forty-eight two-hour training sessions per year wer e

required. Training of the WRs took several forms: basic

general military information for women with no prior service ; refresher courses for former servicewomen ;

and formal classes in the unit's specialty. Summe r

camp was the highlight of the training program, no t

only because of the benefit of the classes, but becaus e

it provided military experiences (e .g ., squadbay accommodations, restrictive liberty hours, liberty cards,

standing duty watches, field night, barracks inspections, male drill instructors, mess halls, and reveille) ,

unknown and impossible to acquire at the home armory. For some of the inexperienced Reservists, unaccustomed to military routine, the overnight change

from civilian to Marine was jolting . They learned

quickly that a merely clean sink was not good enough

and that returning from liberty a few minutes late was

tantamount to a calamity. As a rule, liberty at summer camp expired at 2200 for women below the rank

of corporal and some of these lower ranking Marine s

carried an alarm clock in their purse to avoid being

late?

The annual two-week training period included combat demonstrations, gas mask drill, classes, participation in a parade or review, as well as softbal l

games and picnics with the regular WMs . At each post

where women Reservists trained, a Woman Reserve liai -

son officer was assigned to coordinate the unit activities. She conducted the annual pretraining conference

in the spring, attended by inspector-instructors an d

the platoon officers, and she assisted the unit durin g

the actual training session .

At home, the Reservists enlarged the intended scop e

of the program with numerous recreational and public relations activities. Rifle, bowling, and softball

teams were the rule. The WR platoons participated

in parades on Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, an d

in celebration of local holidays . They were asked t o

attend movie premieres in the days when John Wayne

and Marine Corps movies were common ; and they

helped the Marine Reserve Toys for Tots campaign by

laundering and mending doll clothes, wrapping gifts ,

101
102 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

and posing for publicity photographs. It was not unusual for enthusiastic women Reservists to spend sever -

al evenings a week at the armory rather than th e

required two hours.3

The first post-Korea WR platoon to be establishe d

was the Woman Marine Classification Platoon, 2d Infantry Battalion, in Boston, which was activated o n

13 January 1952' "Boston's Own" was so successful that

on 16 November 1955 it was redesignated a compan y

with an authorized strength of three officers and 10 3

enlisted women . At the ceremony in honor of the first

Woman Marine Reserve company, the unit was awarded two recently won trophies, the Katherine Towl e

Trophy given each year to the Woman Reserve platoo n

attaining the highest percentage of attendance at an -

nual field training and the Commanding Officer's

trophy annually awarded to the best Woman Marin e

platoon attending summer training at Parris Islan d

based on scholastic standing, percentage of attendance, and military bearing. The platoon had alread y

made history as the first to win the Ruth Chene y

Streeter trophy for attaining the highest percentag e

of combined officer and enlisted woman attendanc e

at drill periods during 1952, a feat repeated in 1953 .

To the already impressive collection, the Boston Reser -

vists added the National Women Reserve Rifle Tea m

Trophy.5

A list of the 20 post-Korea, WM platoons in th e

Organized Reserve showing their dates of activation ,

and the names of the platoon leaders upon activatio n

appears as a table on page 103 : 8

Future brigadier general, 1 stLt Margaret A . Brewer (seated second from left), was inspectorinstructor, WM Communication Platoon, 2d Communications Company, Brooklyn, Ne w

York. Capt Mary E. Roach (seated third from left) was the platoon commander in 1954 .
RESERVES AFTER KOREA 10 3

WM Classification Platoon, 2d Infantry Battalion 13Jan52 Captain Olive P. McCarty, I&I, served as interim

Boston, Massachusetts platoon leader.

WM Administrative Platoon, 3d Infantry Battalion 13Feb52 Captain Leontone A. Meye r

St . Louis, Missouri

WM Administrative Platoon, 5th Infantry Battalion 6Mar52 Major Evelyn J. Greathous e

Detroit, Michiga n

WM Classification Platoon, 2d 105mm Howitzer Battalion 25Mar52 Captain Christine S . Strai n

Los Angeles, Californi a

WM Classification Platoon 17Apr52 Major Mildred D. Ganno n

1st Air and Naval Gunfire Liaison Compan y

Fort Schuyler, New York

WM Classification Platoon, 9th Infantry Battalion 24Apr52 Captain Mary R. Jaso n

Chicago, Illinois

WM Supply Platoon, 2d Depot Supply Battalion 24Apr52 First Lieutenant Florence E . Lovelace

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

WM Classification Platoon, 10th Infantry Battalion 1May52 Captain Virginia B. Strong

Seattle, Washington

WM Disbursing Platoon, 2d Depot Supply Battalion 22May52 Unknown

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

(deactivated 1Dec55 )

WM Disbursing Platoon, 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion 27May52 Captain Margaret E . Meyers

Tampa, Florid a

WM Classification Platoon, 1st Engineer Battalion 12Aug52 Major Betty F. Co y

Baltimore, Marylan d

WM Administrative Platoon, 1st 4 .5-inch Rocket Battalion 30Aug52 Captain Hazel C. Tyle r

Dallas, Texa s

WM Administrative Platoon, 4th Infantry Battalion 5Sep52 Captain Florence I. Haasaru d

Minneapolis, Minnesot a

WM Supply Platoon, 11th Infantry Battalion 2Dec52 Captain Bernice V. Carpenter

Cleveland, Ohio

WM Supply Platoon, 7th Infantry Battalion 28Feb53 Captain Marjorie J. Woolman

San Bruno, Californi a

(later moved to 1st Antiaircraft Artillery, Automatic Weapons

Battalion, San Francisco, California )

WM Disbursing Platoon, 13th Infantry Battalion 28Apr53 Captain A. Taylo r

Washington, D.C.

WM Disbursing Platoon, 1st 155mm Gun Battalion 28Apr53 Second Lieutenant Marilyn J. Standage

Denver, Colorad o

WM Communications Platoon, 2d Communications Battalion 19Nov53 Captain Janet M. Lowri e

Brooklyn, New York

WM Disbursing Platoon, 1st Communications Company 1Dec53 First Lieutenant Marjorie B. MacKinno n

Worcester, Massachusetts

(formerly at Philadelphia)

WM Supply Platoon, 10th Automatic Weapons Battery 7Mar54 First Lieutenant Virginia A . Hajek, I&I, serve d

Kansas City, Missouri as interim platoon leader; Major Helen A.

WM Administrative Platoon, 2d 105mm Gun Battalion 31Jul55

Wilson, platoon leader

First Lieutenant Mabel A. Paule y

Miami, Florida
104 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

Deactivation of the WR Platoons

As a result of fiscal limitations and a desire to in -

crease male enlisted strength to meet mobilization requirements, the Reserve Structure Board, meeting i n

May 1958, recommended the deactivation of the W R

platoons. Two units, Kansas City and Tampa, had already been deactivated, leaving only 18 in 1957 . At

the time of the proposed dissolution of the platoon s

the total strength was 29 officers and 618 enliste d

women as opposed to an authorized strength of 34

and 687 . The strength of the WR platoons had peake d

in 1955 with 35 officers and 664 enlisted women

Marines ?

The undersigned does not concur with the recommendation of the Reserve Structure Board that the Woman Marine Reserve units be disbanded and the membership in th e

Organized Marine Corps Reserve units be restricted to mal e

personnel, or to the arguments given to support such a

recommendation .

The board report emphasized the decreasing

strength of the platoons since 1955 and the cost involved in training women . The point was made that

the same amount of money would support 200 additional six-month trainees (male). Lieutenant Colonel

Elsie E. Hill, Head of the Women's Branch, Divisio n

of Reserve, took exception to the report and on 14 Ma y

1958 submitted her views which were:

She continued:

Inasmuch as the statement is made that a strength o f

45,000 is sufficient to provide all of the initial requirements

for desired augmentation of the Fleet Marine Force upo n

mobilization it is assumed that numbers of trained personnel become of paramount importance . From just the stand -

point of numbers alone, it becomes obvious that 600 wome n

is a larger number of trained personnel than the 200 six -

month trainees. . . 8

She argued that the 600 women could be used for

administrative support during the early stages of

mobilization, thus releasing a like number of Regulars who, she wrote . ". . . are not only highly trained,

but at the optimum of training ." Referring to the issue of the $200,000 spent each year on the women' s

program, she pointed out that in 1957, two wome n

had to be enlisted for a net gain of one, while five

men had to be enlisted to produce the same result .

Lieutenant Colonel Hill concluded that to continu e

the organized program for women was the only economical course to follow. As might be expected, the

Director of Women Marines, Colonel Julia E . Hamblet, the one person most directly responsible for the

activation of WR platoons, did not agree with th e

board's recommendations and added the comments:

The basic problem appears to the undersigned to boil

down to the following : which will be more important in th e

early stages of mobilization —approximately 600 trained o r

partially trained administrative personnel or a somewhat lesser number of potential combat Marines in various stages o f

training . It is believed that it would be impossible to mobilize a Selected Reserve of the size indicated . . . in the time

contemplated without prior or simultaneous augmentatio n

of administrative personnel at Mobilization Stations, Join t

Examining and Induction Stations, District Headquarter s

and Processing Centers. It is my belief that the male administrative personnel in the Organized Reserve will be needed in the numbers available in the FMF and other operatin g

force units with an early deployment schedule, and that the

women will be needed as part of the required immediate

administrative back-up . . . .9

The women's protests notwithstanding, it was decid -

ed to disband the units and to allow 227 women Reservists (one half of one percent of the authorize d

strength of the Organized Reserve) to remain in a dril l

pay status, affiliated with male Reserve units.10 There

was a great deal of bitterness on the part of wome n

Reservists who had faithfully served in the Reserve fo r

as many as 11 years. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Mar y

E. Roddy recalls hearing the news of deactivation whil e

she was at summer training with her platoon at Sa n

Diego. The Dallas women were finishing up an 'enjoyable and profitable two weeks and she was reluctant to tell them of the impending disbandment o f

the program. On the night before leaving for home ,

she broke the news so that she would be the first to

tell them. A final inspection at deactivation ceremonies for the unit was held at the Dallas Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Training Center on Saturday, 2 7

September 1958 . Joining Major Roddy for the inspection was Lieutenant Colonel Joe B. Griffith, Jr. ,

commanding officer of the 1st 4 .5-inch Rocket Battalions "

At first there was spirited competition for the coveted 227 billets but by 1967 the number of women participating in a paid status with the Organized Reserv e

dwindled to two officers and 74 enlisted women.ra Between 1958 and 1967 there was no Reserve program

for WMs.

Woman Special Enlistment Program

An outgrowth of the Woman Marine Program Study

Group of 1964 (General Pepper Board) was the creation of an Ad Hoc Committee in 1966 to study Reserve
RESERVES AFTER KOREA 10 5

training for women Marines. This committee recommended the creation of three women's platoons, and

the enlistment of women without prior service wh o

would be sent to Parris Island for a 10-week period

of training (an adaptation of the six-month trainin g

program in effect at the time for male Marines).1 3

The platoon idea was quickly discarded as being too

expensive and too restrictive geographically. The Direc -

tor of Women Marines, Colonel Barbara J. Bishop, di d

not approve of the plan to train Reservists at Parris Is -

land due to the lack of space at the Woman Recruit

Training Battalion . So, it was not until 10 June 1971 ,

nearly four years after the submission of the committee report, that the Woman Marine Special Enlistmen t

Program was established in the Marine Corps Reserve .

Marine Corps Order 1001R.47 provided for an initial

quota of 88 women to be recruited and enlisted b y

Organized Reserve units (ground and aviation). Thes e

women, integrated with platoons of regular WMs ,

received ten weeks of active duty. Training of varying

periods was offered after completion of basic training .

Reservists then returned home and attended regula r

drills and training periods with their units for the remainder of a three-year enlistment "

From that time on, the assignment and utilizatio n

of women Reservists paralleled that of the Regulars.

In 1973 when the Commandant approved a pilot pro -

gram to assign women Marines to division, wing, an d

force service regiment headquarters based in the United States, women Reservists moved into those unit s

in the Organized Reserve. By May 1976, one and one -

half percent (i .e ., 30 officer and 400 enlisted billets)

of the members of the 4th Marine Division/Wing wer e

women. 1 5

In the year in which the prohibition which limite d

women officers to succeeding to command only of

units made up primarily of women was lifted, 1973 ,

the way was opened for women to command Organized Reserve units. One of the first to do so wa s

Major Jeanne B . Botwright Humphrey, Commandin g

Officer, Truck Company, 4th Service Battalion, Erie ,

Pennsylvania .

LtCol Joe B. Griffith, fith, Jr . , and Maj Mary E . Roddy conduct inspection at the deactivatio n

ceremony in 1958 of the WI? Platoon, 1st 4 .5-inch Rocket Battalion, Dallas, Texas .
106 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

Strength

As early as 1948, a strength goal for women Marines was set at one percent of the authorized enlisted strength of the Marine Corps even though the la w

allowed for a maximum of two percent . The same

figures dictated the number of women allowed to participate in the Reserve. In 1967, Public Law 90-130 re- moved the percentage restrictions and has allowed fo r

a steady increase in the number of women Marines ,

Regular and Reserve. In 1975, the Director of the Division of Reserve, Major General Michael P . Ryan, acting on a request from the Commanding General, 4t h

Marine Division, stated that it would be possible an d

advantageous to increase the number of women to five

percent of the authorized strength of the Organize d

Reserve. But due to the desirability of an incrementa l

rate of growth, he asked that the ceiling for fiscal year

1976 be increased to three percent . This translated into

1,937 womenl 8 By 1977, ahead of the schedule, a maximum of five percent was authorized . Actual figures

on 30 June 1977 were 40 officers and 668 enliste d

women in the 4th Marine Division and 4th Marin e

Aircraft Wing.

Women Reserve Officers

There remained the perplexing problems of providing adequate training for women Reserve officers . While organized units were willing and often anxiou s

to join enlisted women, most of whom had administrative skills, few units could find a place for the

officers, especially if they were above the rank of captain. Major General Ryan encouraged the male units

to join women officers.* Believing that the most

profitable training comes from experience in an organized unit, he took positive steps to make this opportunity available to the women . In 1976 a message

was sent from Headquarters Marine Corps to the Commanding Generals, 4th Marine Division and 4th Marine Aircraft Wing authorizing them to exceed

authorized officer strength by joining WM officers i n

numbers not to exceed five percent of total authorize d

*The positive attitude of Major General Ryan was based upo n

his personal knowledge of the utilization of WRs in World War I1 .

He estimated that at least 18,000 women would be needed agai n

in an emergency, and he believed in the importance of their training . This tends to support a contention of Colonel Hamblet, tha t

the men who served in World War II recognized the contributio n

of the WRs and that as these men retired, women Marines receive d

less and less consideration .

officer strength . Since these are combat-ready units ,

the women could not be included in their mobilization plans, but upon mobilization would be reassigne d

individually to base units to replace male Marines wh o

would in turn augment the Reserve units. Wome n

Reservists who had been openly critical of the lack o f

meaningful training opportunities found reason fo r

optimism in the message and especially the final paragraph which put teeth into the plan and read :

As the majority of available WM officer assets are in th e

administrative and supply fields, this is an opportunity for

individual commanders to improve administrative and suppl y

efforts.

Request this headquarters be advised of results of this pro -

gram. Request you reply no later than 31 December 1976! '

Formal Training for Women Reservists

Beyond unit training, increased numbers of women Reservists received orders to formal technical and

professional schools. In 1971, four years after the first

Regular woman officer entered the midlevel Amphibious Warfare School at Quantico, Major Patricia A .

Hook and Captain Elizabeth D. Doize were assigne d

to Phase I of the shortened Reserve version of that

course. Major Hook returned to Quantico the following summer to complete Phase II and became the firs t

woman Reserve officer to graduate from the Reserve

Officers' Amphibious Warfare Course . In 1973, Lieu -

tenant Colonel Patricia A. Meid and Major Hook at -

tended the special Reserve course offered by the

Command and Staff College, becoming the first women Reservists to do so . 1 8

The most dramatic manifestation of a change in attitude and policy resulting in broader and unusual opportunities for women Reservists was the assignment

of the military occupational specialty of air deliver y

to Private Beth Ann Fraser. Having joined the Reserv e

under the Special Enlistment Program, her three-year

contract provided for initial recruit training at Parri s

Island followed by specialist training . In Private Fraser's

case, that meant three weeks at the Army Airborne

School ("jump school") at Fort Benning, Georgia .

She graduated with Platoon 9A, Woman Recrui t

Training Command, on 15 November 1976 . Even be -

fore her basic training began she had been preparing

herself for the physical rigors of jump school by running two miles several days a week . At Parris Islan d

she performed extra physical training and unlike th e

other women, she wore combat boots and utilities during the required run.
RESERVES AFTER KOREA 10 7

Private Fraser entered the Airborne School on 16

November where the training included physical conditioning, practicing parachute landing falls, towe r

jumps, and finally actual jumps from an airplane . The

chief instructor at the airborne battalion, Master Sergeant D. W. Fischer, described Fraser as ". . . physically strong, a bit above average, with lots of espri t

de corps" 19 Her platoon sergeant, Sergeant First Class

Thomas Rowe, said of her, "We don't often get women through here who are in such good physical shap e

or have her `can do' attitude . She is definitely representative of what I think a Marine stands for." 20 Private

Fraser attributed her success to the Marines of her

home unit of whom she said, "Those guys reall y

helped. They had me running, pulling-up, sitting-up ,

the works" 2 1

To demonstrate the Corps' pride in her accomplishment, Brigadier General Jack M . Frisbie ,

commanding general of the 4th Force Service Support

Group, not only attended Private Fraser's graduatio n

but also promoted her to private first class. Additionally, her former drill instructor from Parris Island, Sergeant Kathy A. Potter, made a special trip to

congratulate the first woman Marine to graduate from

Army Airborne School .

Private First Class Fraser returned to her Reserve

unit, the Beach and Port Operations Company, Head -

quarters and Service Battalion, 4th Force Service Sup -

port Group in San Jose, California, to serve th e

remainder of her contract . Her MOS is an example

of the type of rear echelon duty that can be performed

by women, delivering supplies by air. Since she graduated, several women Regulars have attended the sam e

school.

The cited examples, Major Humphrey, commandin g

officer of a truck company ; Private First Class Fraser,

assigned to air delivery ; and the number of WMs serving in organized units along with male Marines, testify to a more total integration of women into the

Marine Corps Reserve and the recognition of their

potential value as a source of trained Marines in th e

event of war or national emergency.
108 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

Pvt Diane Curtis smiles as she receives her Marine Corps emblem during graduation exercises at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina in March 1967 . The

emblem-pinning ceremony signifies the woman has successfully completed recruit training .
CHAPTER 9

Recruit Training

Mission — The Training Program —Arrival at Parris Island— The Daily Routine —Recruit Regulations

The Drill Instructor-Recruit Evaluation and Awards— WM Complex— Command Reorganized

Enlisted women Marines begin their service at th e

Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island . The women's battalion had been known, at different times, as

the 3d Recruit Training Battalion, the Woman Recrui t

Training Battalion, and the Woman Recruit Trainin g

Command. Boot camp has varied in length from si x

to 10 weeks, but certain things remain unchanged . The

schedule is rigorous; the drill instructors seem bigge r

than life; and for the recruit, no matter what motivated her to enlist, on graduation day, being calle d

a Marine is enough.

Mission

Woman recruit training has been designed ". . . to

produce a basic woman Marine who is able to function effectively in garrison and instinctively practic e

those traits that distinguish her as a Marine ."' The

specific objectives of recruit training were listed in 197 6

as:

a.Self-discipline . A state of discipline which assures respec t

for authority; instant willing obedience to orders and th e

self-reliance to maintain or improve those traits that distinguish a Marine.

b. Military Skills. To teach individual proficiency in selected basic military skills.

c. Physical Fitness. The ability to maintain physical fitness, endurance, and weight-distribution .

d. Military Bearing. The ability to properly wear and maintain uniforms and practice personal hygiene .

e. Esprit de Corps. To instill the spirit of comradeship

among all Marines for each other and the Marine Corps.2

Fundamentally, they differ very little from the aim s

set by Captain Henderson and her staff in 1949 .

The Training Program

Originally, recruits completed a six-week course con -

sisting of basic military and administrative subjects.

By 1949, when the 3d Recruit Training Battalion wa s

activated, Marines had become accustomed to the mature WR of World War II who entered the Corps wit h

certain basic skills, and it was hoped—especially b y

the men—that this short course would produce a

woman Marine ready to take her place in nearly an y

Marine Corps office . At first the recruits were at least

20 years old and as a rule they had some business experience . After the age limit was lowered to 18 years

and the requirement of a high school diploma wa s

dropped in 1950, a longer period of training was

deemed necessary.

Major Beckley, Commanding Officer, 3d Recrui t

Training Battalion in 1951, asked that boot camp b e

lengthened to eight weeks and that instruction i n

group living, character guidance, career guidance, an d

typing be added to the program.3 Her recommendation reflected the frustration felt by the women Marines who had entered the service during Worl d

War II. Confronted with a younger recruit—probably

away from home for the first time, motivated mor e

by a sense of adventure than a sense of patriotism, and

unaccustomed to the discipline of even a civilian

job—they worried about the qualifications of the "ne w

breed"

In a letter to Colonel Towle, Major Beckley described

the problem of finding suitable assignments for women with low mental scores or who had had little caree r

training. Conceding that the women consistently

scored higher on intelligence tests than male recruits,

nevertheless, she observed :

Male recruits who have low GCT scores can be fitted int o

many types of work and prove most valuable . Women Marines are automatically restricted in performance of heavy

manual duties. They fill billets involving "white collar" work

where at least average ability, a neat appearance, and military bearing are requisites'

The discovery in one platoon of three women who listed their civilian occupations as sheepherder, gill ne t

fisherman, and motorcyclist strengthened her case fo r

more careful screening and a change in recrui t

training.5

Colonel Towle endorsed the basic proposal, but be -

cause of her great interest in advanced training added :

It is assumed that inclusion in the proposed revised training program of basic typing for all recruits, as outline d

. . . will not be taken as indicative that every woman Marine is a potential typist or preclude assignment to the Cler k

Typist School in cases where such further training is considered desirable and necessary.e

109
110 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

Recruits at Parris Island undergo tear gas exercises during recruit training in 1950 .

The new program lengthening recruit training fro m

six to eight weeks became effective on 1 October 1952 7

Since that time the length of the training cycle ha s

varied from seven to 10 weeks with three major pro -

gram changes. The first was the introduction of a

General Office Procedures Course in 1958 .8 Essentially,

at that time recruit training was separated into two

elements: six weeks of basic military indoctrination an d

four weeks of administration. During the initial military indoctrination phase, the recruit underwent traditional training. She then moved her personal

belongings to another barracks and, under less supervision, completed the General Office Procedure s

Course . The commanding officer, Lieutenant Colone l

Barbara J. Bishop, recommended the new program i n

order to make the women more valuable to a command from the minute they reported for duty and als o

to give them a chance to move gradually from the strict

supervision of recruit training into the relative freedom enjoyed by permanent personnel .9

This latter aim emphasized one of the major problems encountered by graduate woman recruits.

Whereas the male Marine traditionally moved from

recruit training to advanced infantry training with a n

attendant let-up in supervision, the woman normall y

went directly from recruit to permanent personnel status. Oftentimes, after arrival at her new command ,

the period of adjustment was as difficult for the woman's first sergeant as for the woman herself.

After the General Office Procedures Course was inaugurated, graduation from boot camp was not quit e

the same sad, emotion-packed event that it had been.

A simple ceremony was held on the parade ground

behind the battalion administration building, and i t

was followed by the move out of recruit barracks . The

most noticeable changes for the new graduates were
RECRUIT TRAINING 11 1

granting of base liberty from 1700 to 2400 on week -

days and 1145 to 2400 on weekends, reveille at the

more civilized hour of 0600, and a work day that ended at 1630 . 1 0

Chief Warrant Officer Ruth L. Wood, who had bee n

a teacher before joining the Marine Corps in 1943, was

head of the new administrative course which included 44 hours of typing, and classes in the Marine Corp s

Directive System, business English, spelling, correspondence, publications, security of military information, office etiquette, and the duties of a

receptionist . On the small, hand-picked staff were

Technical Sergeants Lillian J . West and Eileen P. Phelan, both former school teachers, and Technical Sergeant Grace A. Carle—later Sergeant Major of Women

Marines—who had had civilian experience as an instructor.' '

The dual training program—first boot camp and

then the General Office Procedures Course—was no t

entirely satisfactory in that it took a considerabl e

amount of administrative work to transfer the women from recruit to student status, and more importantly, it shortened the screening and observatio n

time . Since only recruits could be separated by an aptitude board, the disposition of marginal and proble m

students became particularly difficult . Thus in 1961 ,

Lieutenant Colonel Hill, then Commanding Officer,

Woman Recruit Training Battalion, asked that th e

10-week dual program be combined into a nine-wee k

course of two phases, with the important proviso that

the women remain in a recruit status and under the

supervision of the recruit company staff during th e

entire period 1 2

The second major program change in Marine Corp s

woman recruit training was the introduction in 1967

of the Image Development Course, part of a large r

plan to teach grooming to recruits, officer candidates,

and permanent personnel . The decision to adopt this

program was based on three premises: first, the improvement of the woman Marine image would enhance the prestige of the WM program in the eyes of

the public and within the Marine Corps; second, that

emphasis on the feminine aspects of a servicewoman's

life would counteract the unappealing impression of

military service and therefore improve recruitment ;

and finally, that heightened self-confidence and pois e

would reflect advantageously on the duty performanc e

of the woman Marine.

Lectures of this sort had always been a part of woman Marine training, but the new approach to teaching techniques of proper makeup, hair and nail care,

wardrobe selection, posture, wig selection and care ,

social etiquette, wearing the uniform, and groomin g

practices involved a personal program to meet the individual's needs. It was designed to enhance eac h

woman's poise and social grace . To start the effort o n

a sound footing, 20 women Marines, officer and en -

listed, were trained at the Pan American World Airways International Stewardess College . They would

serve as instructors. Beautifully decorated, profession -

ally outfitted grooming facilities were installed a t

Quantico in 1967 and at Parris Island in 1970 .1 3

The "peanut suit, " a one-piece seersucker exercise uniform with drawstring bloomers hel d

over from World War II and in the system until 1960, is worn by women recruits .
112 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

1stLt Patricia Watson, recruit platoon commander, takes daily inspection in 1956 .

The Image Development Course, which fluctuate d

from 12 to 31 hours in length was conducted in a more

relaxed manner than other phases of recruit trainin g

and proved to be a popular addition to the schedule ,

particularly from the recruits' point of view. One of

the most important parts of the course covered th e

proper application and reapplication of cosmetic s

throughout the day. The recruits were inspected as be -

fore, but in addition to the shine on the shoes, press

of the uniform, and police of the barracks, they had

to be concerned with their makeup . The natural

look—appropriate makeup for a career women—wa s

emphasized as the proper standard.

The finale of the course was an evaluation perio d

held several days before graduation . Selected Marines,

dependents, and civilians from the depot were invited to participate at a social hour and recruits wer e

judged on their poise, courtesy, and appearance . The

guest list changed but traditionally included, amon g

others, a senior officer and his wife, several staff non -

commissioned officers—students and staff—fro m

Recruiter's School and the Personnel Administratio n

School, a chaplain, and a medical officer. Individual

grades were not given, but obvious problems and wea k

areas were noted and when necessary the recruit wa s

given additional help.1 4

The course, as may be expected, was not wholeheartedly received at all levels . Generally speaking, th e

women drill instructors were less enthusiastic than th e

recruits and the command . Primarily they objected t o

the requirement for DIs to wear makeup while on

duty. According to Sergeant Major Judge, who was firs t

sergeant of Recruit Company, and Master Sergean t

Bridget V. Connolly, who as a staff sergeant was a DI

during the initial stages of the program, there was

some muttering in the ranks. First Sergeant Judge ,

who had never before worn eye makeup, told the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ruth J. O'Holleran, that if her family could see her they would call

her a "hussy.'" In Staff Sergeant Connolly's view, it

was an added burden on the drill instructor who had

to be up, dressed, and in the recruit barracks befor e

0500 to be expected to appear in full makeup . It als o

meant, of course, that she could not freshen up quickl y

during the day. 16 Despite these difficulties, there was

general agreement that the Image Development

Course improved the appearance and poise of women Marines and achieved its intended goals .

The third major change in women's recruit training involved the forming period and occurred in 1968 .

In order to give drill instructors time off to rest them -

selves physically and to prepare themselves mentally

to make the transition from working with a graduat e

platoon to another platoon of new recruits, the initial processing was put in the hands of other members of the permanent personnel unit . This team

welcomed the new arrivals and supervised the multitude of details incidental to preparing recruits for

training. Only on the first scheduled training day di d

the DI meet her recruits.' '

As they have for years, the majority of recruits arrived during the night . Under the new procedures,

they were offered a snack, and shown to their alread y

made-up bunk. Overhead lights were kept off to avoid

disturbing other sleeping recruits. The latercomers

were allowed to sleep to the very last minute in th e

morning, getting up only in time to eat before the

mess hall secured . While it had been proven that
RECRUIT TRAINING 11 3

recruits react more quickly and assimilate instruction s

better when they are less tired and less frightened, ol d

ways die hard, and veteran DIs believed that some -

thing was lost in the way of initial discipline. The forming period, while still a difficult adjustment for

civilians, was planned to instill a positive attitud e

toward Marine Corps training at the onset .1 e

Arrival at Parris Islan d

These forming period procedures of 1968 bear little resemblance to those remembered by women Marines who attended boot camp from 1949 to 1968. In

1949, recruits arriving by train were met by the DIs

at Port Royal, South Carolina. In later years, the terminal point of a rail trip was Yemessee, about 26 mile s

from Parris Island . Unfortunately, the most lasting impression for many of these women arriving from north -

ern states was the segregation of "white" from

"colored" on the train south of Baltimore and at th e

station at Yemessee . Major Joan M. Collins remembered that in 1953, on the way to boot camp, a Puerto Rican recruit, Sunny Ramos, was separated from her

group and asked to sit in a compartment by herself.

The women protested, but the conductor told the m

not to make any trouble .1 9

Women arriving by train were usually taken by bu s

along with male recruits to the recruit depot . If a mal e

Women recruits spent long hours in the classroo m

mastering administrative subjects . GySgt Frances A .

Curwen teaches a typing course in the early 1960s.

DI was on hand at the station he normally succeede d

in scaring the life out of the women, even if he totally

ignored them and directed all his attention at the

men. Lieutenant Colonel Gail M . Reals remembere d

that she and one other woman were the only female s

on board a bus driven by a civilian who amused himself all the way from Yemessee to Parris Island askin g

the young women why they had done such a foolis h

thing and personally guaranteeing that they woul d

regret it 2 0

As a rule, the bus delivered the male recruits firs t

and at each stop the women witnessed the traditional

brusque ceremony of the DI greeting his recruits fo r

the first time so that by the time they arrived at th e

women's battalion, they feared the worst.

The "worst" for the women recruits meant rush an d

pressure. Most recruits, tired and apprehensive, arrive d

after midnight, made up their bunks, dropped into

bed, and then awoke at 0500 with the lights blazing

and the duty NCO shouting, "Hit the deck ." For several days they were kept busy with administrative task s

such as endorsing orders, filling out forms, and writing their autobiography. They received shots, a PX issue, and an initial clothing issue—normally utilitie s

and exercise suits. Time was spent sewing name tags

in their clothes, hemming the utility slacks, and learning how to give a Marine Corps shine to their oxfords .

Until black shoes were adopted in 1964, groups of

recruits were taken outdoors to dye the issue brow n

a darker cordovan shade . For many women Marines ,

the first " chewing out" was brought on by spilling sho e

dye on one of the new uniforms.

Women Marines who were impressed by the "sharp "

appearance of the recruiter in her attractive dress blue

uniforms were invariably let down when, during forming, they received their clothing issue . A hold-over

from World War II that remained in the system unti l

1960 was the exercise suit of tan seersucker—a one -

piece bloomer outfit with a matching buttoned front

skirt appropriately nicknamed " the peanut suit ." The

World War II bib overalls, white T-shirt, and long -

sleeve jacket made up the utility uniform until th e

mid-50s, but the most unpopular items, by far, were

the heavy cotton lisle hose worn by WMs in trainin g

until 1968, and the very practical oxfords .*

These shoes, with their two-inch Cuban heels were ,

for obvious reasons, known as "grandmas" In the 1950 s

*See Chapter 14 for a discussion of woman Marine uniforms,

1946-1977 .
114 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

Recruits display issued clothing for a `junk on the bunk" inspection in the early 1960s.

a more modern, lower heeled oxford was adopted fo r

drill and certain types of work, and until the old sup -

ply stocks ran out, each recruit was issued one pair of

"grandmas" and was then taken by bus to Mickey's

Bootery in the nearby city of Beaufort to purchase th e

newer shoe—which WMs naturally called "Mickeys "

The basics of military courtesy were instilled during the forming period. In order to give practice i n

saluting, recruits were required to be covered at all

times when outdoors. For a number of years, recruit s

who had not yet been issued a uniform cap were instructed to wear a civilian hat or scarf, even if only go -

ing to the clothes line behind the barracks, and so i t

was not uncommon to see a WM dressed in a peanu t

suit, hair neatly covered by a flowered scarf, rendering the hand salute .

The Daily Routin e

Traditionally, women recruits bounded from thei r

bunks at 0500, ate breakfast, policed the barracks, an d

prepared for morning inspection . The daily inspection s

by the drill instructors varied—that is, personnel, barracks, locker box, or clothing rack— but always included general grooming . Classes were scheduled until the

noon meal and again from 1300 to 1700 . Evenings

were devoted to studying, laundry, shoe shining, and

letter writing. Recruits also could be found practicin g

salutes in front of a mirror or perfecting movement s

in close order drill alone or in small groups. They were

assigned to the duty roster and took turns at standing the watch from the end of the class day until reveille. Classes were held until noon on Saturday.

Liberty, for many years, was granted sparingly, an d

then only to recruits visited by close family members .

In the 1970s, as a result of a study of the woman Marine program, a look at the basic training of the othe r

services, and in order to ease the transition from recruit

status to the environment of the first duty station ,

limited liberty hours were extended to all . Wome n

recruits were authorized depot liberty Sundays an d

holidays from 1000-1500 ; Saturdays and Sundays prior to graduation 1330-1930 ; and Thursday and Friday

of final week 1800-2000 .2 1

On one night the routine differed from all the

rest—field night . The evening before important inspections (which graduated weekly from the junior
RECRUIT TRAINING 11 5

drill instructor through all levels of the command u p

to the battalion commander) was spent in furious activity scrubbing and shining every inch of the barrack s

and neatly arranging locker boxes and clothing rack s

to conform to regulations. A clean white towel folde d

lengthwise in even thirds and a clean white wash clot h

folded evenly in half and centered over the towel wer e

displayed at the end of each bunk . In the squadbay,

bunks and locker boxes were lined up exactly, and in

the laundry, irons were arranged as precisely as Marines in formation. In preparing for inspections, the

recruit learned a lesson of lasting value ; she learned

the importance of team work, because the platoo n

passed or failed as a unit . Inspecting drill instructors

and officers had their individual methods of showin g

displeasure, but few were more effective then the technique of tearing up poorly made bunks and gathering all the gear left "adrift" and displaying it in th e

center of the squadbay.

The outdoor equivalent of "field night" is th e

"garden party." New recruits who found garden part y

on the schedule were often genuinely disappointe d

to find rakes, clippers, and lawn mowers where the y

expected barbecue grills and hot dogs. It was one of

the mischievous pleasures of the DI to shout, "Put on

your peanut suits, ladies; we're going to have a garde n

party." Over the years, only the uniform changed ; the

garden party still translated into mowing, clipping ,

and trimming .

For all of the nonstop activity of a recruit's day, i t

ended on a serene and peaceful note . A custom traced to the early 1950s was the singing of "The Lord's

Prayer" at taps. Colonel Hamblet, when she was Director of Women Marines, visited Parris Island and late r

wrote :

. . . having heard of a custom that had developed in th e

Woman Recruit Company, I returned to hear taps .

The bugle notes sounded :

Day is done

Gone the sun

From the lake s

From the hills

From the sky

All is well

Safely rest

God is nigh

One by one lights in the barracks went out . At other Marine bases a hush would then fall . But here, as the last not e

of the bugle faded in the distance, came not silence but th e

sound of voices in song.

They started softly in the Senior Platoon area on the second deck (floor) of the barracks, were picked up by anothe r

The vertical dryers, rectangular ironing tables, and stationary ironing boards found in

a typical woman Marine barracks laundry room were well used during recruit training .
116 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

platoon topside, then by the recruits on the first deck. Th e

song swelled in volume as each group joined in, filling th e

darkened barracks and spilling over into the street outside .

From their bunks the women recruits were singing "The

Lord's Prayer". They sang spontaneously, their young voices ,

untrained and unrehearsed, blended in reverence . They were

not required to sing. They did so because they chose to . It

had become their tradition, a new group learning by listenin g

to the others22

Recruit Regulations

The recruit regulations published in 1949 scarcel y

changed over the years. There was a proper, establishe d

procedure for nearly every activity; deviations from th e

norm, no matter how minor, were not acceptable . A

recruit immediately learned that she did not rise be -

fore reveille nor sit on, rest on, or get into her bunk

before taps. Bulletin boards were to be read several

times daily and she initialed every roster on which he r

name appeared . She moved quickly, but did not run

in the passageways; came to attention whenever some -

one other than a recruit entered the squadbay; and

called "gangway" while backing up to the bulkhead

when someone other than a recruit approached 23

Only clean clothing, with all buttons buttoned, zippers zipped, and buckles buckled could be displayed .

The one exception was a pair of untied oxfords an d

the unbuttoned raincoat to facilitate a hasty exit i n

case of fire . Unauthorized personal items were stowe d

in the luggage room. Keys, clothing, cosmetics, sho e

polish, or notebooks left lying about were deposite d

in the "lucky box" and could be claimed only afte r

the hapless recruit admitted her carelessness to her DI.

Mail call was the highlight of a recruit's day unless

she received contraband items from well meaning family and friends. Packages were opened in front of

witnesses and any food, candy, or gum was returned

to the sender, thrown away, or donated to the Red

Cross.

Smoking was limited to designated areas at specified times; drinking beer or hard liquor was taboo;

borrowing, lending, or giving clothing away was forbidden; and hair was rolled only at prescribed times .

Neat, clean, and orderly was the rule . Laundry bags

were washed, bleached, starched, and ironed frequently. Singing in the laundry was encouraged, but talking was prohibited. That these seemingly irksome

regulations remained virtually unchanged for so lon g

a time testified to their effectiveness in teaching discipline, respect for authority, and the value of

teamwork.

The Drill Instructor

These recruits are entrusted to my care . I will train them

to the best of my ability . I will develop them into smartly

disciplined, physically fit, basically trained Marines ,

thoroughly indoctrinated in love of Corps and Country . I

will demand of them, and demonstrate by my own example, the highest standards of personal conduct, morality an d

professional skill .

The Drill Instructor's Pledge 2 4

The drill instructor was the key to recruit trainin g

and was directly responsible for the training, physica l

fitness, discipline, welfare, and morale of her recruits

and her junior drill instructors. The assignment was

considered by many enlisted WMs to be the most exhausting, frustrating, yet satisfying job in the Marine

Corps. Her role and responsibility resembled that of

the male DI, but her training and the evolution of

her title moved along a different path .

Until 1976, with one short-lived exception, women

did not attend Drill Instructor School and those involved in recruit training were officially called platoo n

sergeants or platoon leaders. WMs, themselves, unofficially consistently used the more familiar term o f

DI.

Competent, mature, willing noncommissioned

officers in excellent physical condition and with impeccable military records were essential to the conduc t

Recruit learns to shine shoes from drill instructor.
RECRUIT TRAINING 11 7

of recruit training. Due primarily to the small number of women Marines and proportionally fewer NCOs,

and a reluctance to release women from their primar y

occupational specialty for periods of two years— norma l

tour length for a DI—there persisted a shortage of

women DIs. Colonel Barbara J. Bishop, when she was

Director of Women Marines, 1964-1969, tried in vai n

to come to a mutually acceptable arrangement with

the assignment branch at Headquarters whereby the y

would notify her of the impending transfer of senior

enlisted WMs. Then, if DIs were needed at Parris Island, Colonel Bishop proposed to fill those vacancies

on a priority basis. Her plan met with opposition and

for many years much of the burden of training was

carried by a group of NCOs who served two and i n

some cases three tours of duty at the Woman Recruit

Training Battalion 2 5

The policy had normally been to assign a staff non -

commissioned officer as the senior DI with sergeants

or corporals as junior DIs, but, it was not uncommo n

in the early 1950s to have lower rated women in thes e

jobs. The process of selection from 1949 until 1976

was to order NCOs to the women's recruit battalion

for screening by a medical doctor, psychiatrist, the battalion commander, the recruit company commander,

and perhaps a battalion screening board . Having satisfactorily moved through this chain, a prospective D I

began on-the-job training and was in a probationar y

"Welcome to the Pig Pen . "A drill instructor tore up the squadbay and left this messag e

taped to a chair for her recruits after an unsatisfactory inspection in the early 1960s .
118 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

Each platoon had a male DI to teach close order drill and military customs and courtesies. Recruits in 1961, wearing the one-piece dacron dress, render a hand salute .

status for the period of one training cycle . Only then

did she receive the coveted MOS 85112 8

With assignment of women to Drill Instructo r

School beginning in January 1976, certain procedure s

changed. The formal course was in itself a screenin g

process, eliminating the need for battalion involvement; the successful graduates were immediately assigned the drill instructor's MOS ; and they were not

considered to be in a probationary status. Furthermore ,

Headquarters regularly sent two or three women to

each scheduled class, taking the Director of Wome n

Marines out of the assignment business, and assurin g

a steady and more satisfactory flow of DIs into recrui t

training.2 7

Whether or not women should attend the forma l

school was heatedly debated for a number of years .

Lieutenant Colonel Elsie Hill, twice commanding officer of the recruit battalion, believed that the schoo l

would give uniformity to the training and arranged

for five WMs to enroll at DI school in October 1955 .2 8

The women, Sergeant Ida J. Reinemond and Corporals

Marion M. Moran, Edith M . Reeves, Dorothy Rzepny,

and Lillian Hagener underwent the prescribed cours e

with only one concession ; they did not carry a rifle

during the drill sessions.29 According to Lieutenant

Colonel Hill, the women did well at school and as battalion commander, she was satisfied with their subsequent performance as DIs, but Headquarters wa s

evidently uneasy about a loss of femininity and th e

WM image and put an end to the idea s°

The issue lay dormant for 21 years, but in Januar y

1976, once again, five WMs entered DI school : Sergeants Mary E. Gibbs and Jeanette M. Plourde an d

Corporals Victoria Goodrich, Veda R . James, and Erlene A. Thomas. WMs continued to attend the cours e

and were involved in all academic studies, training ,

and drill except individual combat training and th e

complete marksmanship program . They were not re-
RECRUIT TRAINING 11 9

quired to qualify with the M-16 service rifle or the .4 5

caliber pistol, but they fired them for familiarization .

At graduation, the women graduates, in place of the

traditional DI hat, were presented with scarlet epaulets, worn by WM DIs since 1970 .3 1

The DI was in direct control of the recruits in her

platoon and shouldered the greatest responsibility in

their training. For many years, the senior drill instructor was required to be with her platoon at all

times during the first three weeks of training . In the

late 1960s, this requisite was eased somewhat and he r

presence was necessary at key times like clothing issu e

and inspections and at all periods of instruction wher e

the recruits' health or physical well being was involved ,

such as physical fitness and swimming classes . More

routine events could be supervised by the junior dril l

instructors.32

In reality, the recruit was seldom out of view of he r

DIs. One of the team was in the squadbay before reveille and again after lights out. While her charge s

slept, the DI examined the next day's schedule, made

notes about the number of required uniform changes, A drill instructor wearing scarlet epaulets in place of

checked transportation arrangements, filled out evalu- the traditional male DI hat calls cadence for recruits

ation forms, and wrestled with administration mat- dressed in the blue utility uniform in the 1970s .

A three-mile run concludes the fitness test taken by recruits at Parris Island in 1974.
120 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

Lt Vera M. Jones, Recruit Company commander, ties three streamers, symbols of training excellence, to the Platoon IA guidon. SSgt M. M. Gruetzemacher looks on in 1965 .

ters and personal problems of her recruits . Like the

recruit, she had to launder and iron several uniform s

and shine her shoes. For the DI the day began at 043 0

and ended well after midnight . With rare exceptions,

she was a Marine totally committed to her task an d

accepted the fact that for two years, she would hav e

very little life of her own . A DI of the early 1950s, Cor -

poral Constance A . Shafer, wrote of her tour, `A gruel -

ling pace, but it had its own reward . At least one of

the 4 platoons I had made Honor Platoon, and th e

satisfaction of seeing my hard work come to fruitio n

made up for the loss of sleep." 33 Master Sergeant Bridget Connolly and Lieutenant Colonel Gail Reals, tw o

of Corporal Shafer's recruits, were still on active dut y

in 1977 .

Recruit Evaluation and Awards

The evaluation and awards program was meant to

screen recruits for graduation as basic women Marine s

and to recognize outstanding performance . The criteris used to judge the women was much the same a s

it was in 1949, but a more sophisticated system o f

awards evolved . Individually, recruits were graded i n

three main areas : academic, performance, and attitude . The first was the easiest to document as it wa s

a numerical value based on the results of objective examinations. Performance and attitude marks are b y

nature subjective and so were derived from a composite of the entire staff's contact with the recruit, wit h

emphasis on inspection results, drill aptitude, physical fitness, weight control, image development, an d

leadership ability. 34

In one way or another, the guidon, a flag with the

platoon's designation carried by the platoon guide ,

had long been associated with the platoon's performance. New platoons normally had been identifie d

by a bare guidon staff. After successful completion of

specified inspection or milestone, pennants were added with appropriate ceremony. The gold guidon

marked the junior platoon or series, and for some time
RECRUIT TRAINING 12 1

had to be earned by passing the junior DI's inspection.

The scarlet guidon had nearly always been awarded

by the senior DI after a satisfactory formal inspection,

which in 1977 was scheduled for the third week i n

training. Traditionally, poor platoon performance was

noted by the command to furl the guidon, the ultimate sign of the DI's displeasure.

Colorful streamers, symbols of excellence, were added to the WM guidon staff for the first time in Marc h

1968, when First Lieutenant Vera M . Jones, the n

Recruit Company commanding officer, presente d

three streamers to Platoon 1-A for achievement in

swimming, drill, and physical fitness 3 5 Streamers i n

1977 were presented in recognition of exceptional platoon performance in the areas shown in the chart elsewhere on this page.

The Marine Corps emblem, most visible outward

symbol of a Marine, had normally been given as a n

award rather than an unearned right to be taken fo r

granted. Sometime in the 1950s the practice of issuing emblems along with the uniforms was stopped an d

the recruit had to pass the Recruit Company commander's inspection before she received the highl y

prized "globe and anchor." The emblem ceremony, be -

ginning in 1966, had become a part of the graduation day events. At a company formation early in th e

morning, each graduate held her emblems in he r

gloved hand and the company commander and DIs

personally affixed them to her uniform 3 s

The American Spirit Honor Medal, highest available individual distinction, was given to the recruit who

displayed, to a high degree, outstanding leadership

qualities best expressing "The American Spirit" o f

honor, initiative, and loyalty and who set an exampl e

in conduct and performance of duty. The award, consisting of a medal and certificate, was made availabl e

by the Citizens Committee of the Army, Navy, an d

Air Force through the Department of Defense . A

recruit who won the American Spirit Honor Medal was

Lt Vera M. Jones awards the Marine Corps emblem,

visible symbol of a Marine, to recruits who have passed the company commander's inspection in 1965 .

automatically designated the Honor Graduate or Out -

standing Recruit* and additionally received the

Leatherneck Award and the Dress Blue Uniform

Award .

Private Mary E. Gillespie, in October 1950, was the

first woman Marine to be awarded the American Spiri t

Honor Medal.37 The uncommon excellence associated with this medal was underscored by the fact tha t

several years could pass without a recommende d

recipient.

The Honor Graduate, known in the past as the Out -

standing Recruit of the platoon, was the woman wh o

had demonstrated the desirable attributes of a Ma -

*The terms Honor Graduate and Outstanding Recruit have bee n

used interchangeably.

Area Color Criteria

Physical Fitness Test gold 95 percent platoon performance

Academic red 85 percent platoon performance

Drill green 250 points

Chief DI Inspection purple 75 percent platoon performance

Series Officer Inspection light blue 80 percent platoon performance

CO, WRTC Inspection blue 85 percent platoon performance

The chart is based on the 1976 WRTC SOP. Streamer colors and criteria have varied slightly over the years .
122 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

PFC Sonia Nelson, in 1962, was the first woman Honor Graduate to receive the Leatherneck Dress Blue Uniform Award. LtCol Doris V. Kleberger makes the presentation while

Recruit Company Commander, Capt Mary L . Vertalino (later Stremlow), looks on .
RECRUIT TRAINING 12 3

A 1975 air view of newly constructed woman Marine recruit complex at Parris Island .

rine to a degree not displayed by any other membe r

of the platoon . The certificate accompanying this

award noted not only her academic accomplishment ,

but leadership ability, integrity, honor, and loyalty.

For many years Leatherneck magazine awarded a

complete dress blue uniform with all accessories to th e

outstanding male recruit of each platoon . In 1962, th e

WM DIs, feeling that their recruits were slighted,

looked into the matter, and since that time, wome n

have been included in this tradition. Private First Class

Sonia Nelson, Platoon 15-A, meritoriously promote d

at graduation in December 1962, was the first Hono r

Graduate to receive the Leatherneck Dress Blue Uniform award38 Leatherneck magazine, in 1972, change d

the Honor Graduate award to a wristwatch and th e

Dress Blue Uniform Award was thereafter presente d

by the Marine Corps Recruit Depot .

Families and friends were encouraged to attend the

graduation exercises—an event marked by pride, happiness, and tears. Recruits laughed and cried as the y

reminisced about their boot camp days, and said fare -

well to platoon mates; they sang joyously ; and the y

stepped off smartly as they marched together for th e

last time . Graduation, for the most part, include d

some sort of outdoor review or drill exhibition . For a

brief time, 1960-1963, the ceremony was held in a classroom. On 25 September 1963, however, Platoon 11-A

began a new tradition by holding its final review o n

the parade field behind building 914 in the old WM

area39

WM Complex

By 1977, where the yellow-stuccoed barracks, home

of the 3d Recruit Training Battalion and the Women

Recruit Training Battalion, once stood, only open
124 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

fields were found . Two buildings remained. No. 900,

formerly the mess hall, later a craft shop, and No. 903 ,

which housed the senior series of WM recruits. The

junior series was billeted in the WM complex, built

within view of the old area .

Suggestions had been made to rehabilitate and aircondition the World War II barracks, but the publi c

works officer found that the cost would exceed 50 percent of the replacement value of the buildings . Consequently, at a meeting on 27 July 1967 the Depot

Development Board directed that an entire new complex for WMs be programmed at Parris Island 4 °

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on 26 January 1973 and construction was begun . For two years

the women Marines watched patiently across the field .

Finally on 8 February 1975, they made the big move . "

The new complex, completely self-contained, was

designed to house Parris Island's permanent wome n

personnel as well as the women recruits . In actuality ,

increases in strength of WMs resulted in the retention of the old barracks for recruits . By the time the

complex was opened, plans were already underway fo r

an addition.4 2

Among the facilities included in the WM complex

were a fully equipped gymnasium, headquarters area s

for the battalion and recruit company, a dining facility, storage areas, a conference room, four classrooms ,

a laundromat, clothing issue area, sickbay, tennis

courts, volleyball court, and television and telephone s

on each level of the three-story barracks. The structure was built in a square, leaving a central courtyar d

area open with the flagpole in front of the battalio n

headquarters. Permanent personnel enjoyed a pati o

with a fountain, rooms of one to three occupants, an d

new, motel-like furnishings. Beds replaced meta l

bunks, closets replaced lockers, and the women wer e

allowed to decorate their rooms with colorful be d

spreads, rugs, flowers, photographs, and other persona l

touches . Recruits in 1977 still lived in austere, albeit

more modern and comfortable, squadbays.

Command Reorganized

The Woman Recruit Training Battalion became the

Woman Recruit Training Command on 28 May 197 6

when Headquarters Company was disestablished . Consistent with Marine Corps-wide policy at the time, per -

sonnel assigned to Headquarters Company wer e

administratively transferred to the command unde r

which their work section fell, but remained billete d

in the WM complex . Thus reorganization efforts completed a full cycle . In February 1949 the 3d Recruit

Training Battalion, under Captain Henderson, consisted of one company of 50 recruits and the 15 WMs

to train them. In May 1976 Woman Recruit Training

Command, once again embodied only a recruit company, but of 300 recruits and 32 WMs to train them .
CHAPTER 10

Officer Training

Location —Training Program —Traditions —Awards -1973-1977—Towards Total Integratio n

Second Platoon, Company C, BC 3-7 7

Marine officer training, conducted at Quantico, Virginia, is the sum of the precommissioning officer candidate course and the postcommissioning basic course .

From 1949 to 1973 the women trained separately from

the men, under the auspices of a women's unit, called

at various times: Woman Officer Training Detachment

(1949-1955), Women Marines Training Detachmen t

(1955-1958), Women Marines Detachmen t

(1958-1965), and Woman Officer School (1965-1974) .

Customarily, a woman lieutenant colonel, heading a

female staff, was responsible for the administratio n

and training of the students. From 1949 to 1954 th e

Woman Officer Training Detachment was under th e

control of The Basic School for matters pertaining to

training, and under Headquarters Battalion, Marin e

Corps Schools for all else.* The name was changed to

Women Marines Training Detachment in 1955 and the

G-3, Marine Corps Schools, took over the responsibilities formerly held by The Basic School .

For nearly two years, until 17 December 1958, th e

woman Marine company, Company D, made up of th e

post troops was a component of Headquarters Battalion. Then the Women Marines Detachment was activated, a two-part women's unit composed of

Headquarters Company and the Woman Officer Training Class. The name changed once more in 1965 to

the Woman Officer School and the training function s

came under the cognizance of the Marine Corps Education Center, but the woman Marine company remained a part of the unit.

Organizationally, the most significant change cam e

on 12 June 1973 when the Woman Officer School was

designated a school under the Education Center, an d

not a command . The former commanding officer ,

Lieutenant Colonel Carolyn J. Walsh, became th e

director and the functions of the woman Marine company were transferred to Headquarters Battalion where

they first began in the days before Korea. On 20 December 1974, the Woman Officer School was disestablished; the training of candidates became th e

*The command at Quantico was reorganized in 1968, and th e

title was changed from Marine Corps Schools to Marine Corps Development and Education Command .

responsibility of the formerly all-male Officer Candidates School; and the newly commissioned wome n

lieutenants moved to The Basic School at Camp Barrett, an outpost of the main command at Quantico .

Location

Women Marine officers lived and trained from 194 8

to 1973 in the southeast corner of the base in an are a

bordered on one side by the Potomac River and o n

another by the town of Quantico. The commanding

officer and her staff moved from Building 3091 across

from the mess hall to 3094 down the street and bac k

again. For almost the entire period, candidates wer e

quartered in Barracks 3076 . Suitable billeting space

for the women once commissioned always posed a

problem as the choices were limited . Some classes of

student officers remained in the same barracks, living in open squadbays as they had as candidates ;

others moved to Building 3091 where semiprivate

rooms were available, if there were not too many staff

noncommissioned officers on board . A few classes were

quartered at the Cinder City BOQ, which in later years

became the base Hostess House.

This perplexing problem was brought on by th e

small number of classes involved . Never did more than

two classes of officer candidates train in one year, and

more often there was only one . Since the billetin g

space was vacant for as much as six months of the year ,

it was not economical to set aside quarters for the wom -

en lieutenants comparable to the BOQs enjoyed by

the men.

The WM area at Quantico was nearly self-contained :

barracks, mess hall, small dispensary (when officer can -

didates were on board), drill field, and classroom . Earl y

classes, at least until the mid-1950s, received their uniform issue in the sweltering hut behind the barracks

while later groups were bused mainside to the clothing warehouse .

Whenever available, the air-conditioned classrooms

of Breckenridge or Geiger Halls were used rather than

the uncomfortable barracks classroom . Lieutenant

Colonel Emma H . Clowers, twice commanding officer

of the training detachment, wrote :

125
126 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

College students and graduates arrive at Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia, i n

June 1953 to begin their summer training program with the Women Officers Trainin g

Class. The students being checked in by staff member WO Ruth L . Wood are (left to

right) future Cols Ellen B. Moroney and Mary L. Vertalino, and June E. Palmer, Joan

G. Bantzhaff, Mary E. Lane, Helen L. Fiocca, Jean M. Byrnes, and Antoinette S. Willard.

I remember how we begged and pleaded, and yes, fought

to get just one air-conditioned classroom—in the barracks

or anywhere—large enough to accommodate the WOTC students during those hot summer days of training . And how

we envied Educational Center and even Basic School, wit h

their fine air-conditioned, well designed classrooms, with

all necessary training aids and facilities . '

Again the small numbers involved mitigated against

any large expenditures of money . The male program s

not only trained many times the number of candidates, but they operated on a year-round schedule ,

making efficient use of all facilities.

Training Program

Judging from the numerous organizational adjustments, one would expect to find parallel change s

in the training of officer candidates, but that did not

generally happen . With only one exception, the training of women lieutenants was done on a schedule of

12 weeks' candidates training and six weeks' basi c

course from 1949 until 1962 . In 1951, because of th e

Korean War and the critical shortage of Marines, th e

basic course was shortened to four weeks . The 12 weeks

precommissioning portion did not vary for the 13-yea r

period. It was divided into a junior and senior cours e

with college sophomores eligible to attend the first

six weeks, and college seniors and graduates completing the entire course in one summer . The sophomor e

who successfully made it through the junior phase was

then able to return another summer to finish th e

senior phase. College graduates and former enlisted

women were commissioned and continued on to th e

basic course located in the same area, and conducted

by the same staff as the candidate training .
OFFICER TRAINING 12 7

Several changes were made from 1962 to 1973 whic h

resulted in a shortened candidate course varying fro m

seven to 10 weeks and a lengthened basic course o f

up to nine weeks.

During the initial stages of training, the daily routine, candidate regulations, and course material was

not significantly different from what was found in

recruit training. The most obvious dissimilarities wer e

the assignment of officer platoon leaders at Quantic o

versus the women platoon sergeants at Parris Islan d

and the liberty granted to candidates.

At Quantico, the goal was twofold : first, to produce

a basic Marine and develop her leadership potential .

Secondly, the candidate course was considered a

screening process, a place to observe each potentia l

new woman officer. To this end, officer candidates wer e

allowed a measure of freedom in the form of liberty

one or two nights a week and on weekends . Those with

good sense used it wisely. Additionally, candidate s

were given a number of leadership assignments, dutie s

which set each woman apart from the group and which

demanded, in their execution, the use of good judgement, initiative, and force.

After commissioning, during the phase of training

originally known as the Woman Officer Indoctrination Course (WOIC) and in 1962 changed to the

Woman Officer Basic Course (WOBC), the lieutenants

were given extra doses of freedom and responsibility.

They arose, not at reveille, but in time to accomplis h

their chores and be ready for inspection at the appointed minute. At night, they turned in not at lights out ,

but in time to get sufficient rest to prepare them fo r

a day of training. Classroom lectures and demonstrations emphasized their role as a leader and much tim e

was spent in problem-solving seminars, often chaire d

by the commanding officer. The second lieutenants

accompanied the regularly assigned duty officer on he r

tours, took personnel and barracks inspections, an d

delivered prepared lectures to their classmates .

Traditions

Traditions of the type seen at recruit training neve r

developed around either the officer candidate course

"Hitting the beach" are members of the Women Officers Training Class at the Marin e

Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia, during an amphibious landing exercise in 1959 .
128 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

Officer candidates play volleyball behind the barracks at Quantico in the early 1950s.

or the basic course . Again, numbers may be a factor.

With only one class in session at a time, there was n o

opportunity for a junior platoon to emulate a senio r

platoon. The staff members closest to the candidates ,

the platoon leaders, and instructors, seldom worke d

with more than one platoon. At Parris Island, on th e

other hand, the drill instructors, both senior an d

junior, graduated one platoon and immediately picked

up another. There was a thread of continuity unknown

at Quantico.

There were, however, two occasions generall y

remembered by officers commissioned in the 1950s

and 1960s. The first was the WOTC picnic held jus t

before graduation, and highlighted by the students '

impersonations of staff members . The second was the

official call made by the lieutenants at the home of

the commanding officer.

A long-standing military custom held that each officer, upon arriving at a new base should call, formally ,

on his commanding officer . Protocol dictated that th e

visit be made in civilian clothes with a hat (although

some authorities called for the dress uniform) ; the visit

should last precisely 20 minutes ; and the proper number of engraved calling cards had to be deposited i n

a waiting tray. Until the 1970s the tradition was rigidly

adhered to at the Quantico women's detachment . It

gave the second lieutenants an opportunity to practice the procedure and gave the commanding officer

a chance to see the young officer in a somewhat formal social situation .

Officer candidates were advised to bring a hat to

training, but not many complied. The few hats pe r

DIs were the only male members on the staff of th e

Woman Officer Candidate School. In this 1955 photograph the drill instructor shows a candidate the

proper distance she must maintain while marching .
OFFICER TRAINING 12 9

platoon made many calls on the commanding officer.

The students were scheduled to call in small group s

and as one contingent left, their hats were passed o n

to those waiting outside . The commanding officer,

meanwhile, greeted each guest, with a straight face

and an inner smile . White gloves, often in short sup -

ply, were sometimes doled out one glove per student ,

each one trying to hold the single glove as inconspicuously as possible .

At the call, drinks were offered and although a second was suggested, the lieutenants were expected t o

refuse and to bring the call gracefully to a close . Some -

times the commanding officer would tactfully help ,

but often the young women were on their own to excuse themselves, say goodbye, and drop their cards as

if they did that sort of thing every day. As awkward

as the new officers felt, it probably never occurred to

them that at times the commanding officer was equally uneasy. Colonel Hamblet recalled her tour at th e

Woman Officer Training Detachment in 1951 when

she presided at the formal calls in her suite at th e

senior officers' BOQ, Harry Lee Hall . Major Doroth y

M. Knox, the executive officer, was there to help an d

the two, somewhat apprehensively, awaited the arriva l

of the second lieutenants . The meeting got off to a

poor start when one of the guests was asked if sh e

would like to remove her coat, and she answered sh e

was not wearing one—she had on a coat-styled dress ?

By the 1970s, the calls became far more casual, even

replaced by group cookouts at the home of the commanding officer. When the training of women officers

was integrated with the male officers, large groups

made calls in dress uniforms at one of the officers'

clubs on the base .

Awards

Awards for honor graduates of the officer candidate

and basic courses have varied with none standing out

in the manner of a tradition . The Marine Corps Association has from time to time given wrist watche s

or dress emblems to the candidate finishing first i n

her class. The Women Marines Association, for some

years, presented the honor woman with a statuette o f

Molly Marine .

1973-1977

The Woman Officer Candidate Course and Woman Officer Basic Course underwent numerous stylistic but no philosophical changes for 25 years. It must

be said that women officers were being prepared fo r

the limited duties they were allowed to perform . The

Officer candidates shared a messhall with the permanent personnel of the WM Company. The future lieutenants could be identified by the "OC"pins worn on their lapels.
130 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

expanded role played by women in the Corps in th e

years after the Pepper Board, increased interest i n

careers even by married women officers, improve d

retention, and unprecedented procurement success,

all led to some new thinking about the training of

women. It also happened that in 1972 the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Cushman, directed the Marine Corps Development and Education

Command at Quantico to convene a panel to stud y

the programs and goals for the education of Marine s

to determine if they, in fact, supported Marine Corp s

needs.3 The results, submitted on 31 May 1972 by the

chairman, Colonel William F. Saunders, Jr., included

the recommendation that when facilities permitted th e

WOBC and The Basic School should be merged int o

a single command and male and female officer candidates be trained in a single course. The action would

mean the disestablishment of WOS and the activation of a woman Marine company in Headquarters

Battalion, MCDEC'

Regarding the section of the study pertaining to th e

women's schools, the Commandant, on 20 February

1973, approved the idea to relocate WOBC to Camp

Barrett when facilities would allow and the integration of portions of the instruction given by the two

schools. He specifically stated, "The disestablishment

Navy nurse `Miss Mattie"innoculates officer candidate of the Woman Officer School is not anticipated" 5 His

Nancy A. Carroll in the woman Marine dispensary at final words, "The study . . . will have far-reaching imMarine Corps Schools, Quantico, in October 1957. pact on shaping Marine Corps professional and aca -

The major part of the candidate's day was spent in the classroom. The women pictured

here wearing the two-piece seersucker uniform and cotton lisle hose are members of the

first post-World War II Woman Officer Training Class held at Quantico, in 1949 .
OFFICER TRAINING 13 1

Candidates board a "cattle car" for weekly swimming class at Quantico in late 1950s .

demic education in the future," 6 proved prophetic fo r

women Marines.

Lieutenant General Robert P. Keller, Commanding

General, MCDEC, finding the operation of WOS as

a separate entity to be inefficient, transferred the company of women Marines from the cognizance of WO S

to Headquarters Battalion as Company B on 11 Jun e

1973 .' The next day WOS was disestablished as a command and redesignated as a school within the education center, and its commanding officer became th e

director.

Concurrently, the administration but not the training of women officer candidates was placed under th e

control of the Director of the Officer Candidate s

School. The 32d Woman Officer Candidate Class

(WOCC) was entered into the records as Company W ,

with both WOS and the Officer Candidates School

performing the administration . On 13 August 1973 ,

the academic section of WOS moved to The Basi c

School and two days later the newly commissione d

officers of the 32d WOBC moved into quarters at

Graves Hall, Camp Barrett .8 From that time until

January 1977 the women officer students were traine d

in separate, independent companies, receiving selected

academic and leadership instruction from The Basi c

School staff. Course curriculum varied in length from

10 to 12 weeks.

Closer ties were made with the Officer Candidates

School when the reporting date for the 35th WOC C

was scheduled so that its graduation date would coincide with that of the 90th OCC on 20 December 1974 .

The two separate classes shared related training, participated in a combined parade on 19 December 1974

Future BGen Margaret A . Brewer, then a captain, inspects officer candidates at MCS, Quantico in 1959 .
132 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

at Brown Field, and graduated together the following day. Once again, to save personnel and to avoi d

duplication of training effort, the Commanding

General, MCDEC, had recommended that WOS b e

dissolved, suggesting 20 December, graduation day o f

the 35th WOCC, as a target dates Accordingly, WOS

was disestablished and the WOCC and the WOBC

were maintained as separate courses under the direction of the Officer Candidates School and The Basi c

School respectively.

Towards Total Integratio n

At The Basic School, Company L (Lima Company),

became the company of student women officers . In

1976 Major Barbara E . Dolyak, in the course of being

briefed for her duties as company commander, questioned the differences in training given male and female officers. At the time, WOBC was 12 weeks

compared to 26 weeks for the men's basic course . Just

as she was wondering, "Why can't the women do it? ,"l o

the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Wilson, published White Letter No. 5-76 on the subject

of Women Marines, and addressed it to all general

officers, commanding officers, and officers in charge "

In it he stressed the fact that increased opportunities

In order to pass the swimming qualification test all

1960s women officer candidates were required to jump

from the high platform into the pool at Quantico .

Daily personnel inspection was held in officer candidate barracks at Quantico, Virginia, in 1960s.

for women demanded positive leadership and management action on the part of commanders relative t o

their assignment, training, utilization, and welfare . He

suggested that the requirement for separate women 's

units be reviewed, and continued, "In the same view,

commanders who are responsible for the conduct o f

professional schools should review curricula to ensure

that the training offered prepares Marines to lead, irrespective of sex"1 2

The promulgation of the White Letter prompte d

Colonel Clyde D. Dean, Commanding Officer at Th e

Basic School, to discuss its possible ramifications wit h

Major Dolyak . And so, at this time, the summer of

1976, the thought of combined training for men an d

women officers was in the serious talking stage . It

gained momentum with the arrival in August of th e

lieutenants of the 38th WOBC, several of whom ha d

completed totally integrated Naval Reserve Officers '

Training Corps (NROTC) in college . In Major Dolyak's

words, "These women were ready to go." 13 They wer e

enthusiastic and like a good many women of thei r

generation, they expected a more integrated trainin g

program .

During a talk to the students of TBS, the Commanding General of MCDEC, Lieutenant Genera l

Joseph C. Fegan, Jr., was questioned by the wome n

on their abbreviated course . They were not satisfied

with the answer. Later, participating in a combined

field exercise which required carrying but not firing
OFFICER TRAINING 13 3

a weapon, the women were incensed when they wer e

issued rubber rifles.

Coincidentally, Lieutenant Colonel Edward M .

Mockler, at The Basic School, was conducting a revie w

of the program of instruction for male lieutenants.

Traditionally, the mission of the school had been to :

. . . educate newly commissioned officers in the high standards of professional knowledge, esprit de corps and leadership traditional in the Marine Corps to prepare them fo r

duties of a company grade officer in the Fleet Marine Force ,

with particular emphasis on duties of a rifle platoon commander.' '

However, in 1976, only 18 percent of the newl y

commissioned male officers were classified as infantry officers, and in 1977 the projection was to be onl y

12 percent. The remaining 82 percent were assigned

to aviation, combat support, and combat service elements, all of whom exist solely to support the infantry unit. Plans were being made to shorten the mal e

officer basic course from 26 weeks to 21 weeks and to

create an advanced infantry officer course as follow -

on training for those assigned an infantry MOS . In this

way, all male officers, sharing a common education

and mindful of the interdependence between combat and support units, would be better prepared t o

lead the Marines under their command .

In the course of staff briefings on the reduced syllabus, Major Dolyak posed the incisive question, "I f

it is essential that male Marine lawyers and suppl y

officers share this commonality of experience with th e

infantryman, why isn't it important for the women? "1 5

Lieutenant Colonel Mockler responded, "You've got

me, I don't have a logical answer' "

In Lieutenant Colonel Dolyak's view, that was th e

turning point in the training of women officers . Her

question was mulled over and discussed but not immediately acted upon .

The Basic School carried through with the proposal

for a 21-week course, briefing first Brigadier Genera l

Paul X. Kelley, Director of the Education Center an d

Future Col VeaJ. Smith (left), then an officer candidate, takes a sailing lesson from L t

Patsy A. Twilley, shown hoisting the sail at the Quantico docks in the summer of 1957.
134 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

and understanding of such fundamental subjects as the Flee t

Marine Force, Marine air-ground task forces, and the fiel d

environment . 1 8

Grooming instructor, Lt Ruth Walsh (later Woidyla)

conducts class in personal makeup for newly commissioned women officers at Quantico, in April 1969.

then Lieutenant General Fegan on 20 October 1976 .

The plan was sent to the Commandant in early

November 1976, and on the 24th it was approved in

concept . The possibility of a combined male/female

class was not yet broached in either briefings or correspondence .

During November and December, The Basic School

staff reviewed the new 21-week syllabus with an ey e

toward a combined class. With this in mind, Majo r

Dolyak visited the United States Naval Academy an d

the Army's combined Officer Candidates School a t

Fort Benning, Georgia, to discuss lessons they ha d

learned in the process of integrating training . Then,

on 20 December, Lieutenant General Fegan wrote th e

Commandant of his intention to conduct a pilot consolidated male/female Basic Course beginning wit h

Basic Class 3-77 (BC 3-77) on 4 January 1977 ." The

Commandant's White Letter 5-76 was referenced a s

the basis for an evaluation of the training at TBS. The

conclusion drawn was that the 60-day course for women was not comparable to the 105-day course offere d

male officers. General Fegan reasoned :

In order for the woman officer to provide the Marines under her command with knowledgeable, professional leadership, it is considered that she, too, must develop an awareness

Timing was crucial . WOBC-39 was scheduled to be -

gin in two weeks on 4 January and there would no t

be another class of women until August . Quantico in -

tended to move quickly and needed waivers of Marine Corps policies that prohibited women from firin g

the rifle and pistol for qualification and from participating in field exercises. There was never any in -

tent to train women for combat, but, rather, ". . . to

provide each woman officer with . . . commonality

of origin, experience, and education in order t o

broaden her perspective and make her a more effective leader of those Marines placed in her charge" 1 9

In reply to General Fegan's letter, the Commandan t

stated his commitment to preparing women for thei r

increasing duties and responsibilities associated with

their support role. But, he added, ". . . in conducting

the pilot program, due consideration must be given

to the noncombatant role of women and to the physiological differences between men and women" 2 0

Regarding weapons and tactics skills, guidance dictated

an emphsis on orientation, familiarization, and defensive training.

The fact that the women lieutenants had no t

received comparable physical conditioning during the

Officer candidates prepare for inspection with a coin

and a ruler. Blankets pulled tightly enough to allow

the coin to bounce and an eight-inch top sheet fold

are two marks of a properly made military bunk.
OFFICER TRAINING 13 5

Women lieutenants of the 2d Platoon, Company C, the first integrated Basic Schoo l

unit, debark an amtrack during exercises at Quantico, Virginia, on 20 April 1977 .

candidate course was of some concern to all parties .

For the pilot program, the women participated in all

exercises but were graded on the physical fitness pro -

gram for WMs in which they ran one and one-half

miles rather than the three-mile course prescribed fo r

men. And, the obstacle course grades were weighte d

differently. Because of these limitations, as well as th e

experimental nature of the combined class, the class

standings were delineated by sex .

Second Platoon, Company C, BC 3-7 7

(January 1977-26 May 1977)

The second platoon, Company C, BC 3-77, unde r

staff platoon commander Captain Robin L. Austin,

plunged into a training course made up of such subjects as basic tactics, patrolling, vertical envelopmen t

operations, tank-infantry operations, amphibious

warfare, physical training, aviation and ground support, infantry weapons, supporting arms, land navigation, military law, communications, and comba t

intelligence . The 22 women were divided into groups

of five or six and attached to the remaining five mal e

platoons for field exercises . In all, Company C (Charli e

Company) was made up of 243 male and 22 femal e

lieutenants commanded by Major Guy A . Pete, Jr.

Nicknamed after a popular 1977 TV show based o n

the experiences of three women detectives, 2d platoo n

became known as "Charlie's Angels ."

Aside from exposure to field conditions, the women gained first-hand experience in leadership positions. They took their turns as platoon sergeants, squad

leaders, and guides, which gave them heretofore outof-reach practice in leading men and developing th e

techniques and tact necessary in dealing with problems

men encounter as Marines. Previously, women lieu-
136 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

tenants took over male-dominated sections withou t

having this experience to fall back on .

Like thousands of male lieutenants before them, th e

WMs took part in the Basic School Landing Exercis e

(BaScoLEx) in which a company of student officers

storms ashore on Onslow Beach at Camp Lejeune during a practice amphibious assault . To their consternation the women were bused from Quantico to Camp

Lejeune while the men made the trip by sea . The law

forbade their service on board ship, so when at 0900,

20 April 1977, about 200 male lieutenants swept across

Onslow Beach, they were confronted by the 2d Platoon (women) and the 5th Platoon (men) playing th e

role of inland aggressors.

The new twist to the BaScoLEx prompted a number of remarks of a sexist nature from the men . A few

said the women should not be in the field at all .

Others thought it unfair that the law prevented the m

from taking part in the entire exercise . Most of th e

men, at any rate, seemed to support the women's efforts and liked to see them do well in the field .

The platoon commander, Captain Austin, acknowledged some prejudice in the company, but sh e

also cited a contradictory incident which had occurred

three days before the BaScoLEx . "We all completed

a 12-mile forced march and 4-mile run," she explained .

"Following the run, a male lieutenant regarded as the

company's worst chauvinist, gave us a smile and th e

okay sign . We felt accepted" 2 1

There were some problems at the outset, most of

which were expected . The women tended to straggl e

and bring up the rear on the long marches, but eventually made it. Some suffered stress fractures of th e

lower leg just as the women at the military academie s

had. A woman lieutenant on crutches was not an unfamiliar sight. As the pilot program progressed, emphasis on conditioning was stressed during schedule d

periods of physical training and by the midpoint o f

the program the female officer students were able to

keep up with their male counterparts during fiel d

problems, conditioning hikes, and company runs?2

One factor that had not been anticipated and that

affected training to a degree was the intense and continuous interest of the news media . Initial stories were

expected, but not 21 weeks of interminable coverage .

It became tiring for the women, distracting for the

men, and a source of resentment dividing the sexes .

Charlie Company found itself on the front page of Th e

Washington Post and in newspapers around the world .

Brigadier General Kelley was questioned repeatedl y

on the purpose of the combined training . He summe d

up the prevailing philosophy, saying :

Our decision is based on a firm conviction that our youn g

women officers must be informed on all facets of our Corps ,

to include rigors of field environment, if we expect them

to fulfill the broad variety of tasks we have and will assig n

to them in our Fleet Marine Force . z 3

The members of the history-making 2d Platoon ,

Company C, BC 3-77 were : 2 4

Second Lieutenant Linds L . Belange r

Second Lieutenant Christine A . Benso n

Second Lieutenant Patricia P . Blah a

Second Lieutenant Diana C . Da y

Second Lieutenant Mary A. Devlin

Second Lieutenant June M . Digna n

Second Lieutenant Colleen M . Flyn n

Second Lieutenant Robin C. Garrett

Second Lieutenant Megan A. Gillespi e

Second Lieutenant Gayle W . Hanley

Second Lieutenant Georgia J. Jobusch

Second Lieutenant Bonnie J . Josep h

Second Lieutenant Rosa K . Knight

Second Lieutenant Janie D. Loftis

Second Lieutenant Bonnie L. MacPherso n

Second Lieutenant Jennifer J. Martell

Second Lieutenant Ann M . Milinovic h

Second Lieutenant Angelica V . Ritsche r

Second Lieutenant Judith C. Shaw

Second Lieutenant Gloria M . Stottlemyr e

Second Lieutenant Jo Ann Taylor
CHAPTER 11

Administration of Women

Supervision and Guidance of Women Marines—Barracks—Daily Routine—Discipline

The Woman Marine Company was long a standar d

unit on posts and stations wherever WMs served . It

was Colonel Towle's expressed policy that no woma n

Marine would serve alone and that a woman officer

would be assigned wherever enlisted women were located.' Since it was bothersome to arrange billetin g

for a small number of women, it naturally evolved tha t

women were only assigned to bases that could utiliz e

and support a sizable number and where women coul d

be organized into a single WM unit. Women Marine s

have long been considered an integral part of the Marine Corps, and the WM company was fitted into th e

existing command structure. For administrative purposes all WMs were carried on the rolls of the Woman Marine Company, which normally was part of

Headquarters or Headquarters and Service Battalion .

The table of organization of a typical WM compan y

indicated only the personnel required to command

and administer it: the commanding officer, the executive officer, the first sergeant, clerks, and a polic e

and property NCO. The strength of the company bor e

no relation to the table of organization as the wome n

making up the company were filling other authorized billets throughout the base.

There has been a certain amount of confusion ove r

the name of WM units. Colonel Hamblet, when sh e

was Director of Women Marines, settled the issue i n

1958, drawing attention to the variety of titles in existence . She cited such examples as Women Marin e

Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Camp

Pendleton; Women Marines Detachment Two, Marine

Corps Air Station, Cherry Point; and Woman Marine

Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego . In the interest

of uniformity, it was decided to use the words "Woman" with an "a" and "Marine " without an " s " in the

title designations? Once in a while the WM companies were given letter names—most often Company

D, which lent itself to the nickname, "Dolly Company." In one instance, at Pearl Harbor in 1952-1956, th e

women Marines were Company A— no recorded nick -

name. At Marine Corps air stations, the women were

organized into a detachment, which was a squadron -

level unit. In these cases, the table of organization

called for a sergeant major rather than a first sergeant .

Administratively, this plan of grouping all WMs into

one company while they worked throughout the command, differed from the organization of male Marine s

who were attached to a company within the same battalion for which they worked . For the male Marine ,

his work supervisor and his company commander wer e

in the same chain of command; for the WM, her wor k

supervisor could belong to one battalion while her

commanding officer belonged to another. A cooperative spirit among commands was absolutely essential

since often the interests of the work supervisor an d

those of the commanding officer clashed. Leave and

liberty, for example, were granted by the commanding officer, based upon a written release by the wor k

supervisor. Company duty assignments, inspections,

and barracks field nights infringed on women's wor k

responsibilities and vice versa . On matters of discipline, if a work supervisor put a woman on report ,

it was handled not within his chain of command, bu t

through her company and, when necessary, battalion .

In spite of these areas of potential conflict, the system worked relatively smoothly from 1948 until 197 4

when an emphasis on a "total Marine Corps" brough t

into question the need for separate women's commands. An ad hoc committee met in 1973 and mad e

a number of proposals which opened new career opportunities for women in the Marine Corps and als o

recommended changes in policies that tend to set the

women apart as if a separate entity . As women moved

into more and more previously all-male fields, commanders challenged the tradition of woman Marin e

companies. From posts and stations came the suggestion to disband the units and to treat the women as

all other Marines. The Commandant's White Letter

No. 5-76 also addressed this matter :

With the achievement of more complete integration o f

women, the requirement for separate women's units should

be reviewed . Positive benefits can be derived from assigning women Marines administratively to their duty units. During transition periods, you may find it desirable to establis h

additional duty billets for a woman officer or staff noncommissioned officer to work as "Special Assistants " in providing guidance relative to woman Marine matters?

137
138 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

Following a long-standing tradition, the visiting Director of Women Marines, Col Katherine A. Towle, is entertained at a tea held in the barracks at Parris Island in 1951 . The

colonel is flanked by MSgt Lotus T. Mort (left) and Maj Nita Bob Warner (right) .

In June 1977 only three WM companies remained—at Henderson Hall, at Norfolk, and at Camp

Lejeune . The others had been deactivated upon th e

request and justification of the commanding generals of the bases at which the WM units had bee n

located .

Where no woman Marine company existed, women were administratively attached to the unit for whic h

they worked, but the billeting was handled in one of

several ways. They could be billeted in a barracks whic h

came under the jurisdiction of the command to whic h

they were assigned. A prime example was Base Materie l

Battalion at Camp Lejeune, where in 1976 the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel George J . Ballard, asked to have the WMs working in his battalio n

transferred to, and billeted with his unit . Although

a company for all other WMs was still maintained, the

women of Base Materiel Battalion were transferred.

The battalion occupied a new motel-like barracks in

which all rooms had outside entrances . Lounges, laundries, and other common areas were shared by me n

and women. The WMs, as was their habit, decorate d

their rooms and displayed colored towels, and according to Major Gerald W. Sims, the executive officer,

the male Marines had not objected . The compan y

commander, Captain Vernon C. Graham, and First

Sergeant Charlie L . Boyd of Headquarters and Servic e

Company were enthusiastic about the value of having complete control of and responsibility for all Marines in the command. In the spring of 1977, members

of the staff admitted that this was a new idea for th e

Marine Corps and in some way an experiment . Some

procedures were being changed . Weekly training, for

example, found the women drilling and inspected as
ADMINISTRATION OF WOMEN 13 9

a separate platoon, and thought was being given to

integrating the women into the male platoons '

At Quantico, things were handled differently . After the deactivation of the WM company in 1976 women Marines from 11 Marine Corps Development an d

Education Center units lived in three barracks. That

fall it was decided to put the women under one roo f

again and a new Bachelor Enlisted Quarters was renovated for them.5 This system paralleled the one in existence in 1977 at Cherry Point where the W M

detachment was deactivated on 31 December 1974 .

The women were administratively transferred to th e

various squadrons and the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing,

but they remained in the same barracks they ha d

previously occupied . Under this arrangement, a woman NCO was responsible for the barracks, its cleanliness, maintenance, and security. She checked women

in and out, held linen call, and prepared duty rosters .

On a three-month assignment, she was away from he r

regular job for that length of time.6

These barracks NCOs, like Corporal Kay Frazier a t

Twentynine Palms in 1975, Staff Sergeant Sandr a

Hoolailo at Quantico, and Sergeant Carol Fox at Cherry Point in 1977 found that they were involved in man y

areas formerly handled by women commandin g

officers or first sergeants. Disputes between roommates, personal problems, and work dissatisfactio n

were some of the matters brought to the NCO . Infractions of barracks regulations and the preparatio n

of duty rosters still required coordination between th e

battalion or squadron maintaining the barracks an d

the duty units of the women .

Sergeant Fox, who was stationed at Cherry Poin t

when WMD-2 was active, and who carried the colors

at the deactivation ceremonies, compared both systems . In her view, the women had more esprit an d

were a closer unit when under one command . The

commanding officer and first sergeant knew the women personally and were interested in them as individuals . Since the deactivation of the detachment ,

Sergeant Fox felt that unit pride had virtually disappeared; the barracks was no longer a scrupulously clean

showplace ; WM activities, like picnics or ball games ,

were nonexistent ; and the women never paraded o r

marched as a unit . She particularly recalled the spirit

and pride they had felt in the past after events suc h

as IG inspections.' Private First Class Katie Jones Dixon and Lance Corporal Judith Coy, interviewed at

Cherry Point were, on the other hand, quite satisfie d

with the arrangement and voiced no complaints . 8

One found, in 1977, senior WMs, officer and en -

listed, who were unsure of the merits of the newer wa y

for two reasons: first, deactivation of WM companies

eliminated the primary source of command experience

for company grade officers; and second, the WM company was a source of group spirit and pride for th e

women Marines. A not uncommon sentiment was that

women would never truly be accepted as Marines b y

male Marines, and therefore they needed some visible unit to identify with . Others—most often junior

WMs—saw the deactivation of WM companies as a

sign that women Marines were truly Marines and no t

a separate corps.

An offshoot of the deactivation of WM companie s

was the new experience for women having male commanding officers and the novel experience for th e

men—commanding women. Staffs of mixed gender

were no longer unusual, and male Marines were no t

apt to suffer fits of apoplexy when reporting in an d

finding the company clerk or executive officer wearing a skirt.

Colonel Margaret A. Brewer, the Director of Women Marines during this period of change, when asked

if she thought that the venture of integrating wome n

into male units was successful, answered that muc h

depended upon the quality of the leadership . Wher e

the commanding officers took positive steps to integrate the women and to make them feel welcome, th e

system worked? Women Marines told her that the y

felt more like Marines—like they belonged . More importantly, the men took the trouble to learn abou t

WMs, their regulations, concerns, and problems. It

happened less frequently that male Marines called o n

WM officers and SNCOs to handle the routine matters involving women: uniform discrepancies, poo r

work habits, and lapses in military courtesy. Some "ol d

salts" discovered that the presence of a few WMs ha d

a beneficial effect on behavior, language, and discipline of the entire unit .

Supervision and Guidance

of Women Marines

A long-standing tradition, wherever WM companies were found, was that all women Marine officers

and staff noncommissioned officers regardless of thei r

assignment, accepted some responsibility for the company. The commanding officer naturally had th e

primary responsibility of administration, discipline ,

training, morale, and billeting of the enlisted WMs ,

but all company grade officers, SNCOs, and NCOs

stood WM company duty ; took their turn giving lec-
140 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

tures on the training schedule ; were apt to be assigne d

as platoon leaders ; and attended all companysponsored athletic and social happenings . Every WM

second lieutenant left Quantico well indoctrinate d

with the idea that the health, happiness, performance ,

and appearance of all WMs junior to her were matters of her concern, and the same theme was reiterated in all phases of NCO training .

Colonel Towle set the example in the very beginning when, in 1949, she invited all newly integrate d

WM officers to her apartment for tea . Lieutenan t

Colonel Munn remembers the care with which the y

dressed—hat and gloves—and in 1977 reflected on

how wise it was of the colonel to bring them al l

together, even though they worked throughout th e

Headquarters.

Colonel Hamblet, who succeeded Colonel Towle a s

Director of Women Marines, believed that senior women Marines, officer and enlisted, in their relationshi p

with juniors, should be concerned with the "total" person and her development. The receptions that women Marines customarily gave for the Director when she

made her annual visit were a part of this philosophy.

The purpose was not only to give the women and the

Director an opportunity to meet informally and loo k

each other over, but it was an enjoyable way to learn

something about entertaining, extending invitations ,

making introductions, and carrying on social conversations. In most cases, the work supervisors and their

wives were invited and in Colonel Hamblet's view, it

was beneficial for them to see the WMs in their own

environment—often leading to a better understanding between the sexes.

To be sure, not all the women wanted to get involve d

in these affairs, but gentle persuasion and a little well -

directed leadership on the part of the commandin g

officer and the first sergeant worked wonders . Very

often, younger women were uncomfortable with the

prospect of entertaining senior Marines and this ac -

counted for their apparent disinterest. When the party

was over, obviously a success, and when the women

received the compliments of the invited Marines and

their ladies, they were in Colonel Hamblet's words,

. . pleased as punch ."

All women staff noncommissioned officers took a n

active role in the supervision and guidance of younger WMs. They were considered a vital link between

the commanding officer and her women, spotting

potential problems and alert to changes in mood an d

morale. During the 13-year period between the time

postwar enlistment was opened to nonveterans in Janu -

ary 1949 until World War II WMs began to retire i n

1962, there existed a group of staff noncommissione d

officers, older and more experienced, who felt a real

obligation to the younger Marines. Due to the fact that

there was no recruiting of women from 1945 to 1949 ,

and because the WMs were at least 20 years old whe n

they enlisted during the war, the age difference wa s

quite pronounced . First Sergeant Schultz remember s

that when the enlistment age was lowered to 18, th e

officers and NCOs felt a real obligation to " . . . thes e

youngsters." ' 0

Women Marines who served in the 1950s and earl y

1960s tell many anecdotes that attest to the concer n

of these SNCOs for the WMs junior to them. One

name often mentioned was that of Master Sergean t

Lucretia E. Williams, retired in 1976, a supply NCO

who was known to buy items for the barracks and mes s

hall out of her own money. When the WMs scheduled ball games or hikes, she often arranged for cool

drinks and then carried the large thermos jugs to the

field herself." Colonel Hilgart remembers a time as

the commanding officer of WMD-1 when a snafu held

up a check meant to pay for a WM ball team trip an d

Master Sergeant Williams appeared at the company

office with a personal check for over $200 .1 2

Another woman remembered by many is Maste r

Sergeant Catherine G. Murray who on 30 Novembe r

1962 became the first enlisted woman Marine to transfer to the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve at the completion of nearly 20 years of service . Master Sergeant

Murray could be found in the barracks every Sunda y

morning rousing up all the Roman Catholics and driving them to Mass. Returning with one group from the

early service, she gathered up more for the next one.

All women with obvious Irish or Italian names wer e

presumed Catholics and taken to church . Major Joan

Collins, as an enlisted WM at Quantico, was a member of Master Sergeant Murray's "Volunteer" grou p

that helped the nuns prepare the altar at nearby St .

Francis parish in Triangle, Virginia . A Lutheran with

an Irish name, she nonetheless spent three consecutive Saturdays cleaning and arranging altar cloths.1 3

Warrant Officer Eileen R . Scanlon relates another

story that typifies the relationship of these women to

the WM company. On a bitter cold day in January

1961, the women Marines of Henderson Hall marched

in President Kennedy's inaugural parade . The women having been instructed to dress warmly, layere d

flannel pajamas, woolen bermuda shorts, and whatever
ADMINISTRATION OF WOMEN 14 1

else they could fit under their uniforms . Not able to

wear boots in a parade, they wore woolen socks cut

off at the top so as not to show above the oxfords . But

simple advice was not enough . Before leaving the barracks, all the SNCOs went through the squadbays inspecting each woman to ensure she had carried ou t

the instructions. 1 4

Several factors have combined to change the rol e

played by women officers and staff noncommissioned officers in the supervision and guidance of wome n

Marines and the very personal concern evidenced i n

the incidents related above is now relatively rare . In

the late 1960s, as a result of recommendations mad e

by the Woman Marine Program Study Group, women SNCOs were allowed to move out of the barracks ,

and more officers were given permission to move off

base, making them far less accessible 1 5 Attrition was

much higher in the 1950s and 1960s before the chang e

in regulations which allowed women with children t o

remain on active duty, thereby causing a shortage of

older, mature SNCOs. Finally, the World War II WMs

began to retire in 1962 and the women Marines los t

this nucleus of officers and noncommissioned officers

which for many years felt a special motherly responsibility to new WMs and to the success of the W M

program .

Barracks

Marines have never disputed the philosophy that

men are different from women . But even acknowledging this or expecting it in no way lessened the initia l

jolt to a male "old salt" the first time he set foot i n

a WM barracks. Women are vitally concerned with

their living areas, they spend more time in their quarters, and they have needs unique to the distaff community.

Colonel Streeter and her officers in World War II

recognized these things early on and even in the midst

of a war felt it was important to insist upon certai n

amenities for the women. A guest lounge became standard. One room, usually furnished with comfortabl e

chairs, sofa, TV (later), and record player was set aside

to greet and entertain male guests. The regulations

regarding proper attire and behavior were quite strict :

Marines, men and women, had to dress in full uniforms or comparable civilian clothing . For the women, sportswear, shorts, or slacks were definitely no t

considered appropriate for the guest lounge .

Very often the barracks boasted a sewing room, hair

dryers, refrigerators, and some cooking equipment .

Adequate laundry appliances were the subject of n o

small number of memoranda from the Director's

Early in the 1950s women were issued a dresser and permitted to display one stuffe d

animal per bunk as shown in this photograph taken at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina .
142 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

In the 1970s, a move from less military to more feminine and personalized decoratin g

was allowed in the W'M barracks. Colorful bed spreads as pictured here were popular.

office . It had to be explained that women, as opposed

to men, do not send personal clothing to commercial

laundries and therefore needed more washing

machines, dryers, and ironing boards than government

specifications allowed. There was some feeling among

WMs of that era that, in the end, the men's barracks

had been improved and better equipped as an out -

growth of the women's insistence on nicer living conditions.

Barracks life in the days of the open squadbays offered little privacy, so whenever possible, the commanding officer would set aside a "quiet room ." It was

a place to read, to study, to write letters, or to cry:

it helped fulfill a woman's need to just be alone . For

privacy's sake another distinguishing mark of the distaff barracks took hold—the fence . Discreetly, a fenc e

hid from public view the dainty unmentionables drying on the clothes line while at the same time providing a spot for sunbathing.

Where the WMs excelled at making a squadbay a

home was in the decoration of their individual areas.

Before the Department of Defense regulations requiring more space and privacy were published in 1973 ,

most Marines were quartered in open squad room s

outfitted with double metal bunks, lockers, and locke r

boxes.18 Wooden dressers were a concession to th e

women, and normally had to be shared . Much ingenuity went into the arrangement of the furnitur e

to form cubicles, thereby assuring a measure of privacy to the several occupants.

A persuasive commanding officer could often talk

the battalion commander and S-4 into pastel colore d

paint—a very radical innovation in the 1950s. Colored

rugs, bedspreads, and towels ; perfume bottles, prayer books, and photos on the dressers; and finally

stuffed animals on the bunks were all privileges eventually won, but often not easily. To keep some semblance of order, the company regulations specified how
ADMINISTRATION OF WOMEN 14 3

many items per dresser, and how many stuffed dolls

by size per bunk .

Understandably, many male Marines had a difficul t

time adjusting to this desecration of a barracks. Be -

fore long, however, the idea gained remarkable acceptance, and at most posts and stations the WM barrack s

was a mainstay on the itinerary of visiting dignitaries .

Daily Routine

Life on board a Marine base in 1977 would have

been only vaguely familiar to the WM of 1949 or eve n

1959 . The most obvious difference would have focused

on the barracks building itself, apt to be motel-lik e

with outside entrances for each room or hotel-like wit h

rooms opening on a long passageway. Closets and

dressers would have replaced lockers and locker boxe s

and the metal double bunks would have become

unknown items of the past. Reveille would still come

too soon, but would be more likely to be announce d

over a public address system than by means of a bugle .

WMs, until the mid-1950s, held an outdoor formation at rollcall each morning, summer and winter, i n

utilities. Since then rollcalls have become less and less

regimented and are generally taken by an NCO with

the Marines standing by in their areas . "

Mess halls, once furnished with long tables an d

benches, have become known as dining facilities and

feature restaurant-style tables and chairs. Mandatory

chow formations for the morning and evening meal s

are all but a memory since 1960. The requirement to

wear a uniform to the mess hall was eased to allo w

civilian clothing first on weekends, then for the evening meal, and finally for all meals. In 1977, at Henderson Hall, appropriate attire for the dining facilit y

permitted neat, but not frayed jeans and excluded onl y

shorts, halters, tank tops, and physical trainin g

outfits.' 8

Liberty cards and liberty logs also had joined "Ol d

Corps " lore by 1970 . Before that time all Marines

signed out with the barracks duty NCO, and each was

By 1975 at a few bases women were assigned motel-like rooms as the one pictured here .
144 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

closely inspected to see that he or she was properl y

dressed. WM company regulations generally went a

step further. At most commands women Marines coul d

not sign out on liberty after a certain time, perhap s

2130 or 2200, and liberty often expired within an hour

after the service clubs closed . Cinderella liberty, as i t

was called, and the motherly concern of commanding officers, served to challenge the inventiveness o f

the women who found some ingenious ways to circum -

vent the rules.

The WM of 1977 walked out of the barracks at will.

Dressed in slacks, she did not find it necessary to prov e

that she was going to participate in an active sport .

Shorts did not have to be covered by a modest skirt ,

and wearing jeans was not strictly limited to car washing in the immediate vicinity of the barracks. She was

expected to be back on time by reveille, but beyon d

that she was largely her own boss.

Discipline

Regulations regarding apprehension, arrest, restrictions, and confinement, from a technical standpoint

have been equally applicable to all Marines, however,

philosophical and practical consideration have dictated

unequal enforcement . The differences primarly involve investigative procedures and confinement policies. Since women did not have a military obligation ,

there was a tacit agreement that the best interests of

the Marine Corps were served by removal of habitual

offenders. WMs who just could not adjust to military

life, who caused more work than they produced, and

who had a negative effect on command morale an d

discipline were, when possible, administratively discharged. The Marine Corps expeditious discharge pro -

gram, which was initiated in 1975 to improve the

quality of personnel serving in the Corps, was base d

on much the same idea .

The interrogation of women poses problems fo r

both civilian and military police . In order to protec t

women from abuse and at the same time to protec t

the police from false accusations, authorities usuall y

demand the attendance of a woman witness during

the questioning . It had been Marine Corps policy to

require on these occasions the presence of a woma n

officer or mature staff noncommissioned officer—senior to the woman being interrogated—wh o

could counsel and advise the suspect . The accused

could waive this privilege as long as it was done in writing and before a woman officer or her own commanding officer.

For a time it was planned to train enough women

investigators so that each post and station would hav e

available a capable officer or NCO to assist the provos t

marshal when necessary. There was no intention to as -

sign these women to any sort of police duty . Second

Lieutenant Marjorie E . O'Hanlon and Ruth F. Reinholz were the first two women Marine officers to at -

tend Provost Marshal General's School—Investigative

Officers Course at Camp Gordon, Georgia, from 6 Jul y

to 2 September 1953 . The two-month class covere d

surveillance techniques, photography, fingerprinting ,

and interrogation . The women were well trained bu t

the idea backfired. No one, not even their best friends,

trusted the new investigators, and after sending wome n

Marines to several more classes, the project was

abandoned.' 9

There always existed a reluctance to confine women, and policy prohibited the use of brigs and guardhouses for them. Those guilty of civil crimes could b e

sent to civilian prisons. Women who rated confinement as a result of a court martial were more apt to

be restricted to the barracks and fined — a punishment

that did not require posting a guard.

When WM companies were routine, and if the offense was serious, women could be confined in the barracks. A number of barracks had a room set asid e

specifically for that purpose . It was sparsely furnished, had a door with a small window, and could b e

locked from the passageway. The confinement o1 a

woman Marine in the barracks invariably affected th e

morale of the entire unit . Guards were posted aroun d

the clock causing many extra duty assignments for th e

NCOs; meals had to be brought in; and merely passing the locked door was unnerving to the others? °

With the disbandment of WM companies and th e

resultant loss of appropriate barracks, confinemen t

posed additional problems . Punishment had no t

necessarily been diminished ; on the contrary, polic y

changes have allowed a more liberal use of civilian jails .

In 1977, a woman Marine convicted by a court martial could face restriction plus a fine or detention in

an approved civilian prison—depending upon th e

judgment of the commanding officer .

Based on the number of courts martial per tota l

strength, the woman Marine disciplinary rate was les s

than one percent?' Although there have been few

cases, each one is disproportionately magnified due

to the very rarity of occurrence and the lingering

hesitancy to confine women .
CHAPTER 1 2

Promotions

Public Law 90-130—Enlisted Promotions

By law women officers had always been selected for

promotion under a different process and by separate

board action from their male colleagues . The provisions of the Armed Forces Integration Act of 1948 hel d

until 1967 when certain restrictions were lifted . '

For 20 years women in the Marine Corps as well as

the other Services could aspire to no higher permanent rank than lieutenant colonel. Additionally, the

number of women allowed to serve in the grades o f

major and lieutenant colonel was rigidly limited b y

the number of regular women officers on active duty .

As the women officers who integrated in the 1948-195 0

period moved into the field grade ranks, two thing s

occurred: it became irksome to them to stagnate fo r

years in one rank as the male officers passed them by ;

and the upper ranks were virtually closed until th e

mid-1960s when these women became eligible to retire. During these years, women were selected for pro -

motion by a separate board convened to consider all

women officer ranks. The limited duty officer pro -

gram, a major opportunity open to male enlisted Marines to achieve commissioned rank, was legally closed

to women Marines.

Warrant officer status has been available to wome n

and the early history of the first women Marine war -

rant officers is told in a letter from CWO-4 Ruth L .

Wood:

Of course the biggest event for me was being selected fo r

warrant officer. On 14 April 1952 we took the 3-hour examination . I believe there were about 57 women applicants ,

and Lillian Hartley (Disbursing) and I (Administration) were

the two lucky ones selected. We took the same exam the

men did, at the same time, which included making decisions on questions whether to dig a one-man or a two-man

fox hole, when to retreat from an air strip and by whos e

authority, etc.! A couple of years later when the Marine Corps

decided to select another woman warrant, the Testing and

Education Unit at Quantico called me, as I was statione d

at Quantico, to say they couldn't find a copy of the "women's exam" and were quite astonished when I told them we

took the men's exam . They proceeded to make a separate

exam for the women.

Lillian Hartley was stationed at HQMC so she receive d

her warrant soon after selection . Mine didn't come so Colonel Hamblet called HQMC to ask about it as she wante d

to assign me as adjutant and instructor at the Women Officer Training Detachment there before the next class be -

gan . At the time, Lieutenant Colonel Hamblet was th e

commanding officer of the detachment and not Directo r

of Women Marines. When they told her the delay in m y

warrant was due to the break down of the "fancy typewriter, "

she suggested they write it in longhand if necessary to ge t

it down here! It soon came typed, but not in the "fanc y

type . "

Lillian Hartley's and my date of rank was 13 June 1952 ,

but in the "Blue Book" (Combined Lineal List ofOfficers

on Active Duty) I was listed first for some reason, with a

man next, and then Lillian Hartley, so I am the senior woman warrant officer. Three years later we made CWO-2 . That

same year we had the opportunity to apply for permanent

warrant officer, and on 16 Dec 1955 the list came out showing we had been selected over again with a permanent date

of rank of 1 July 1954, and Lotus Mort was selected wit h

a permanent date of 14 Dec 1955 . Margaret Robertson was

selected in 1956, Alice McIntyre in 1957, Elaine Freema n

in 1958, and Mary Thompson in 1959, none in 1960, the n

one a year for some time thereafter.

When on 1 Jan 1961 I was the first woman promoted t o

CWO-4, they made a big event of it (altho' I had been the

first CWO-2 and CWO-3 also so it was quite logical!), an d

I made permanent CWO-4 on 13 June 1967 . 2

A change was made in the warrant officer program

in 1975 when for the first time women warrant officer s

attended the Warrant Officer Basic School with their

male counterparts.

Public Law 90-13 0

The first significant change in law directly affectin g

servicewomen occurred when Congress enacted Public Law 90-130 . In a colorful ceremony in the East

Room of the White House, President Lyndon B . Johnson on 8 November 1967 signed into law the bill giving women officers in the armed forces equal

opportunity for promotion with their male colleagues .

Present at the signing were servicewomen and former

servicewomen, including directors and former directors of the WAC, WAVES, WAF, Women Marines, th e

three Nurse Corps, and three Women's Medical Service Corps. High-ranking male officers were there as

well, including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Marine Band, which normally plays at Presiden -

tial ceremonies, relinquished the stage for the occasion to the 14th U.S . Army Band, the only all-wome n

official band in the Armed Forces. The United States

flag and the flags of the various services were carried

145
146 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

WO Lillian Hartley, one of the first two women Marines to be promoted to warrant officer,

receives congratulations from Col Katherine A . Towle, WM Director, on 7 August 1952.

by a color guard of enlisted women, .and the President entered the East Room through a cordon of 5 0

women from all branches of the Services, including

12 women Marines.

Heading the list of Marines present at the ceremony was General Wallace M . Greene, Jr., then Commandant. Four of the five women who had held

appointment as Director of Women Marines were in

attendance : Colonels Ruth Cheney Streeter, Julia E .

Hamblet, Margaret M . Henderson, and Barbara J.

Bishop. Sergeant Majors Ouida Craddock and Ros a

Harrington topped the roster of enlisted women Marines at the historic ceremony.3

Significant among the President's remarks was the

statement that:

Our Armed Forces literally could not operate effectively

or efficiently without our women . . . So, both as President

and as the Commander in Chief, I am very pleased and very

proud to have this measure sent to me by the Congress a

This long-awaited law repealed the legal limitation s

on the number of women in the Armed Services and

also removed some, but not all, of the assignment and

promotion restrictions. There were still certain legal

limitations such as the prohibition against the appointment of women as limited duty officers, the le -

gal limitations on the promotion of women officers

to flag and general officer rank in the Navy and Marine Corps, and the differences in the criteria for the

involuntary separation of male and female officers who

were not selected for promotion. In the Marine Corps,

a male first lieutenant or captain was involuntaril y

separated if he was considered as having twice failed

selection for promotion to the next higher grade .

Historically, due to the upper rank promotion restrictions for women, a female first lieutenant or captai n

was not involuntarily separated until she had completed seven or 13 years of commissioned service, respectively, and was not on a promotion list .

The law also precluded female commissioned of-
PROMOTIONS 14 7

ficers in the Marine Corps from competing for promotion with male officers . This restriction combined

with the smaller numbers of women officers made it

difficult to maintain an equitable rank structure. As

a result, women officers by the 1970s were sometimes

promoted earlier than their male contemporaries. In

order to achieve comparability, a goal was set to slow

down the women's promotions and to " age them in

grade ." A selection board was not convened in 1976

to consider women for the rank of colonel nor in 197 7

to consider selections to lieutenant colonel . In some

cases, as a result, a few women served more time i n

grade than average .

Although the law required selection boards for mal e

and female Marine officers, women since August 197 4

had been selected for promotion by the same board

membership as the men with the addition of a woman officer. If that woman officer was a colonel, she als o

served as a member of the male officer selection board .

The law further precluded the selection of a woman officer to flag and general officer rank in the Nav y

and Marine Corps although there was a provision fo r

temporary appointment as a rear admiral or brigadie r

general while serving in specific billets.5

On the positive side, PL 90-130 allowed for permanent promotions to colonel for women . In April

1968, some six months after it was enacted, selectio n

boards were convened at Headquarters Marine Corp s

to select Regular and Reserve women lieutenant colonels for promotion . Colonels Towle and Hamble t

were called from retirement to sit on these boards . The

Director of Women Marines, Colonel Barbara Bishop ,

Lotus T. Mort, third woman Marine to be appointed a permanent warrant officer, receives

her new insignia from Col Julia E. Hamblet (left), Director of Women Marines, an d

LtCol Pauline B. Beckley, in a ceremony at Headquarters Marine Corps, in January 1956.
148 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

and Lieutenant Colonel Jeanette Sustad, forme r

Deputy Director of Women Marines, were the first

Regular women officers selected for permanent pro -

motion to the grade of colonel . Of the six Reserve

officers selected, two, Lieutenant Colonel Hazel E .

Benn, deputy head of the Special Services Branch a t

Headquarters, and Lieutenant Colonel Ruth H. Broe,

special projects officer for the Division of Information ,

were serving on active duty. The four remaining

Reserve colonels were Lieutenant Colonels Mary L .

Condon, Helen A. Wilson, Dorothy R. Dietz, and Rilda M. Stuart.6

Enlisted Promotions

For the most part, promotions for enlisted wome n

in the Marine Corps were made under the same policies and by the same boards as for the men . Except

in scattered individual cases, there has never existe d

the dissatisfaction or charges of sex discrimination—voiced either by WMs who felt held back or b y

male Marines who thought the women to b e

favored—that was evident in the case of officer pro -

motions.

The notable exception was the first sergeant and sergeant major program opened by the Marine Corps i n

1955 . At first only male Marines were eligible and th e

Director, Colonel Hamblet, fought the exclusion fo r

three years. In a report dated 21 September 1956, after noting the defined duties of the first sergeants an d

sergeants major, she reasoned that all of them appl y

equally to men and women Marines. She continued :

Paragraph 4 g, however, denies the program to wome n

on the basis that the "senior NCO present must have the

capability of leading the unit in a combat, or other typ e

situation .

It is felt that it is unrealistic to deny the first sergeant/sergeant major program to women on the basis that

they cannot supervise a unit in the field nor lead a unit i n

combat. The mission of male Marines, officer and enlisted ,

is preparedness for combat; however, we do not refuse to

commission women officers because they cannot lead combat platoons nor do we fail to promote enlisted women fro m

private to master sergeant because they cannot serve "in th e

field ."

Attention is invited to the fact that women Marines di d

attend First Sergeants School, were designated first sergeants/sergeant major, and did wear the distinctive insignia

of those ranks during World War II; consequently, a precedent for the appointment of women Marines to first sergeants/sergeant major definitely exists ?

Recognizing the futility of her cause at the time ,

Colonel Hamblet made two practical recommenda -

tions that were in the realm of possibility. She asked

that the :

. . . first sergeant/sergeant major program be opened t o

women Marines in event of national emergency when no t

only would the increased strength and billets in the women's program justify their selection, but undoubtedly women would, as they did during World War II, replace mal e

first sergeants/sergeants major who were ordered to comba t

duty.e

and that:

. . . the policy be continued that women's units will have

billets designated for first sergeants/sergeants major and th e

women assigned to these billets will hold the billet title while

so serving even though they are not authorized the distinctive insignia s

Two years later, on 20 November 1958, she personally brought her case to the Commandant, General

Pate, and on the following day she submitted a report

of the conversation to the chief of staff. She wrote:

The pros and cons of selecting women Marines for th e

permanent rank of sergeant major and first sergeant to fil l

sergeant major and first sergeant billets existing within th e

women's program were discussed . The Commandant and the

undersigned were in accord that because of the limited number of these billets (probably 3 sergeants major and 10 firs t

sergeants) it would not be in the best interests of the Marine Corps to select women to these ranks and restrict thei r

assignment to the few billets in the women's program . In -

stead, it would appear more advantageous to have the wome n

filling these billets have the rank, pay, title, and insigni a

while so assigned . It was agreed that the selection of worn

en for these billets would rest with the Director of Wome n

Marines. 1 0

The brevet system discussed by the Commandan t

and Colonel Hamblet materialized when Marine

Corps Order 1421 .6, dated 3 May 1960, was published allowing for temporary appointments to first sergeant and sergeant major for women . They were not

considered to be promotions as the women eligibl e

for them had to be master gunnery sergeant in order

to move into the sergeant major slot or master sergeants to become first sergeants—actually comparabl e

pay grades.

These top-rated enlisted women held the appointment, wore the appropriate chevrons, and received ful l

pay and the privileges of the rank as long as they wer e

in the designated billets and reverted to their permanent rank on transfer out of the jobs. At the time,

there were three sergeants major billets: the senior en -

listed women at the Woman Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island ; the Women Marines Detachmen t

at Quantico; and in the office of the Director of Women Marines. There were 10 first sergeant spots, one at
PROMOTIONS 14 9

CW04 Ruth L. Wood, the first woman Marine to achieve that grade, has her insignia

of rank pinned on by Col Clifford P. Quilici and Col Charles E . Dobson, in 1966.

each of the existing women Marine companies whic h

were then located at : Headquarters Marine Corps;

Quantico; Norfolk; Cherry Point; Camp Lejeune ; Parris

Island; San Diego; Camp Pendleton; El Toro; and

FMFPac, Hawaii . "

By modern standards, the policy appears restrictive ,

but, in fact, the brevet system was adopted to protec t

the women. The policies governing assignments o f

women at the time prohibited them from serving i n

these billets in male organizations . Had the appointment been permanent, the 13 women would have

been limited to these billets, thereby restricting thei r

potential utilization and at the same time, precluding others from serving as sergeants major and first

sergeants.

As it turned out, for a number of years, there were

so few women master gunnery sergeants that it wa s

not until December 1964 that a woman Marine eligible for a sergeant major appointment reported to Parri s

Island. Sergeant Major Doris Derrick was the first WM

to be authorized the chevrons, pay, and privileges inherent in the title of Sergeant Major, Woman Recruit

Training Battalion 1 2

Women who served in the temporary position s

could, upon retirement, ask for a permanent appointment to first sergeant or sergeant major as appropriate, providing they had performed satisfactoril y

in the rank for at least a year.

The brevet system was in effect for 12 years. Surprisingly, the suggestion that women be promoted permanently to the top enlisted ranks came from a man ,

the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Joseph W .

Daily. In a memorandum to the Commandant date d

1 November 1971, the sergeant major stated:

It is realized that billets for Women Marine First Sergeants/Sergeants Major are few . However, I feel the Women Marines are treated unfairly, not being able to compet e

on the same promotion system as Male Marines . This subject was brought up as an agenda item at the SNCO Symposium. The vote was 95 percent in favor for Women

Marines to be promoted to First Sergeant/Sergeant Majo r

the same as Male Marines. It was surprising to learn the number of Male Marines who were unaware of the fact that Women Marines were not promoted the same as males in thos e

two ranks)

Furthermore, the Sergeant Major endorsed the idea
150 A HISTORY OF THE WOMEN MARINES, 1946-197 7

of women filling these positions in male units as h e

continued:

If Women Marines were ever promoted in First Sergeant/Sergeant Major, they could fill other billets as the y

are now interchangeable in many jobs with Male Marines.

This would also help the Woman Marine become mor e

professional in the First Sergeant/Sergeant Major billet .

It is strongly recommended that Women Marines be give n

the same opportunity as Male Marines in our promotion system and that it should commence with the Fiscal Year 197 2

Board . . . .1 4

A debate on the issue ensued finding the Directo r

of Women Marines, Colonel Sustad, opposed due to

the short time given WMs to consider career alter -

natives. Directives at the time allowed male gunner y

sergeants to indicate on their fitness reports their

preference for promotion to either master sergeant o r

first sergeant — the selection having a bearing on thei r

future assignments. Colonel Sustad recommended

that action be deferred until a study could be con -

ducted to determine whether a permanent system or

the brevet system was actually best fitted for women

Marines.' 5

In due time, the colonel was on the side of perma -

nent promotions, and her stand received timely sup -

port by way of a memorandum signed by Roger T.

Kelley, Assistant Secretary of Defense, Manpower an d

Reserve Affairs, directing the Services to eliminate in -

equities. On 31 July 1972, the Commandant of the

Marine Corps approved the selection of an unlimite d

number of women Marines as designated sergeants

major and first sergeants. The new policy was implemented by the E-8/E-9 promotion board already

in session, having convened on 18 July.1 6

Apart from the particular designations as sergean t

major and first sergeant, the ninth pay grade wa s

opened to women in the spring of 1960 when Geraldine M. Moran became the first and only WM at th e

time to hold the rank of master gunnery sergeant. She

was promoted to that rank in April 1960 by Captain

Valeria F. Hilgart, commanding officer of Woman Ma -

rine Detachment 1, El Toro." Master Gunnery Sergeant Mary G. Vaughn, believed to be the first blac k

woman Marine E-9, received her promotion warrant

from Lieutenant General John N. McLaughlin, Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, i n

Hawaii in April 1977 .