IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 105 

Commemorating the 100th anniversary of women serving in the United States 

Marine Corps. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2018 

Mr. ISSA (for himself and Mrs. DINGELL) submitted the following concurrent 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 100th anniversary of women serving 

in the United States Marine Corps. 

Whereas the Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, used 

the Naval Reserve Act of 1916, which allowed for the enlistment of ‘‘qualified persons’’, to enlist women; 

Whereas, although women did not officially serve in the 

United States Marine Corps until 1918, many women 

have answered the call of duty from their country, serving with honor and distinction for decades prior, to include the legendary Lucy Brewer during the War of 

1812; 

Whereas, before she had the right to vote, Private Opha May 

Johnson is officially credited as the first female Marine 

when she enlisted for service on August 13, 1918; 


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Whereas, during 1918, approximately three hundred women 

entered the Marine Corps to take over the stateside clerical duties from the battle-ready Marines who were needed overseas to fight in World War I; 

Whereas the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve was formed in 

February 1943; 

Whereas Captain Anne Lentz became the first female commissioned officer, Lucille Ellen McClarren became the 

first female enlisted Marine under the direction of Colonel Ruth Cheney Streeter, the first Director of Women 

Marine Reservists; 

Whereas over twenty-three thousand women joined the Corps 

during World War II, performing over two hundred different assignments; 

Whereas, after each of the World Wars, all of the military 

branches began disenrolling the women who signed up to 

serve, and thus on June 12, 1948, Congress passed the 

Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948, which 

integrated women as a permanent part of the regular 

United States Armed Forces the following January; 

Whereas the 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act 

authorized one hundred regular female Marine officers, 

ten warrant officers, and one thousand enlisted women in 

a gradual buildup over a two-year period, with candidates 

coming from Reserve women Marines still on active duty 

and those with prior service; 

Whereas female Marines trained at Hunter College and Camp 

Lejeune and on February 23, 1949, the 3d Recruit 

Training Battalion at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris 

Island, South Carolina, was reactivated for training nonveteran female Marines—fifty female recruits formed the 


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first all-female platoon of Marines to take a six-week 

training course, led by Captain Margaret Henderson; 

Whereas although African Americans were given the opportunity to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1942, the Corps 

remained segregated until President Harry S. Truman 

issued Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948, to desegregate the Armed Forces; 

Whereas, in January 1949, Annie E. Graham and Ann Estelle Lamb became the first African-American females to 

enlist in the Marine Corps; 

Whereas, in the summer of 1949, the first Women Officers 

Training Class was held at Marine Corps Base Quantico, 

Virginia, and the quota of seven Regular commissions 

were given upon completion of the class; 

Whereas, in addition to integrating women into the Regular 

Marine Corps, a strong women’s Reserve was also developed with the first Women’s Reserve platoon being activated on April 14, 1949; 

Whereas, within fifteen months, all thirteen Women’s Reserve 

platoons were mobilized in response to the Korean Crisis; 

Whereas, in April 1960, Master Gunnery Sergeant Geraldine 

M. Moran became the first female Marine promoted to 

the highest enlisted rank, E–9; 

Whereas, in 1967, President Johnson signed a law to repeal 

the limits on the number of women in the Armed Forces, 

and Master Sergeant Barbara Jean Dulinsky became the 

first of thirty-six female Marines to serve in a combat 

zone, when she was assigned to United States Military 

Assistance Command Vietnam combat operations center 

in Saigon; 


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Whereas, in the 1970s, the majority of billets were opened to 

women, including to attend the Drill Instructor Academy, 

and, in 1977, the first co-ed Basic School class commenced with 22 females; 

Whereas, in 1972, Master Sergeant Catherine G. Murray became the first female Marine to retire from the Corps, 

serving honorably for nearly twenty years; she lived to be 

one hundred years old and passed away peacefully on December 20, 2017, and was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery; 

Whereas, on May 11, 1978, Colonel Margaret A. Brewer was 

promoted to brigadier general, the first female general in 

the Corps’ history; 

Whereas, in 1993, Second Lieutenant Sarah Deal became the 

first female Marine accepted into naval aviation training; 

Whereas, in 1994, Brigadier General Carol Mutter became 

the first female Marine promoted to major general, and 

in 1996, she became the first female three-star officer 

across the military branches; 

Whereas the first group of women Marines completed integrated Marine Combat Training Course at Camp Geiger, 

North Carolina, in 1997; 

Whereas First Lieutenant Vernice Armour became the first 

African-American female combat pilot in any military 

service branch, flying the AH–1W Super Cobra attack 

helicopter in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and serving two 

tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom; 

Whereas the first all-female Marine Team conducted its first 

mission in southern Afghanistan in 2009; 

Whereas Sergeant Major Angela Maness became the first female to assume the duties of the senior enlisted Marine 


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at Marine Barracks Washington, known as the ‘‘oldest 

post of the Corps’’, in 2013; 

Whereas the first 4 females graduated from the School of Infantry in January 2016, and, on September 25, 2017, 

the first female Marine graduated from the Infantry Officer Course since the course opened to women in 2012; 

and 

Whereas today female Marines make up 7.6 percent of the 

Corps’ strength, and serve in 82 percent of all Military 

Occupational Specialties: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) commemorates the service, dedication, and 

4 sacrifice of our female Marines and their families 

5 who have served in the United States Marine Corps; 

6 (2) commends all the brave female Marines who 

7 have served proudly with distinction and honor— 

8 each generation evolving but always maintaining the 

9 proud traditions of the Marine Corps; 

10 (3) notes that thirty-six female Marines served 

11 in Vietnam between 1967 and 1973, approximately 

12 one thousand female Marines deployed for Oper13 ations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990, and 

14 over fifteen thousand dedicated female Marines have 

15 served in combat in Afghanistan since 2001 and 

16 Iraq since 2003, including ten who have made the 

17 ultimate sacrifice and eighty-one who were injured; 


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1 (4) celebrates all current and future female Ma2 rines for their continued efforts to answer the coun3 try’s calling to serve; and 

4 (5) recognizes that all female Marines are, sim5 ply, Marines. 

Æ 


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