Evening star., 1943-12-16
Marine Women's Pos1
In Arlington Acts
As Independent Unit
Girls Police Barracks,
Guard Gates and
Do Engineering Jobs

Up on the hill just beyond the
Navy annex in Arlington, Va, two
MPs, policing the Marine compound
Henderson Hall. spy an after hours
light in Barracks E.
Knock it off, they shout.
The MPs, members of the Marine
Corps Women's Reserve, armed with
billy clubs, take security watch"
all night, changing shifts every two
hours. When not on watch duty
they stand guard at the gate and
challenge all who enter or leave
the compound for Identification
whether they are in uniform or
civilian clothes.
A completely independent unit OF
the Corps. as far as operations main
tenance is concerned, the Womens S
Reserve prides itself on having its
personnel qualified for all types OF
work required in the adequate func-
tioning of a post.
You see, Marine ruling forbids
the employment of civilians at a
Corps post" 1t. Willye White, COM
pany officer and battalion public re-
lations officer. Seattle, Wash, eX-
planned. while there are some men
on the post for certain Jobs. we like
to know how TO do everything our
selves.
Engineer Is Girl.
Even our engineer Is girl, a girl
from Texas, so she is naturally called
Tex. We are learning how to han
die. the fire apparatus" she added,
so we will be ready for any emer-
gency."
Henderson Hall. which houses ap-
proximately 1900 girls, was COM
pleted last September. The unit
seems to work on the theory that
convenience and comfort are in
ducive to the best type of work for
all the modern conveniences have
bee3 provided at the post.
In the laundry rooms-one located
on each floor of the barracks-any-
thing left around after a girl has
completed her washing or ironing is
termed gear adrift" and is put in
the lucky bag"
If the girls were to claim theil
articles they have to 60 to the bar
racks officer and they don't like to
do that very much.' 1t. White ex-
planned. "All unclaimed articles are
sent to some charity"
Even mess duty at Henderson Hall
is not so bad, according to 1t. White
Everything is new and the girls have
a potato peeler which handles about
500 in half a second"
In contrast to all the modern
equipment. one marine in white
uniform with cap to match was sit
ting on stool cracking case after
case OF eggs and emptying the con-
tents into large caldron. She had
become so adept at her job that she
used only one hand in the entire
process-scramble eggs was on the
menu for the day.
Officers Club Well Furnished.
In the officers clubroom. fur
nished in cane wood with brightly
colored upholstery. the only thing
that is needed, 1t White said. is
Venetian blinds-the barracks al!
have them.
This room is the object of a great
deal OF curiosity on the part of the
girls" she laughed. Even when
they come in late at night they &C
the long way through the post Sc
they can walk past the club and see
how the officers are doing.
The recreation building is the
source OF deepest pride among the
residents of the compound In the
center is a large auditorium where
dances, motion pictures and church
services are held.
I'VE have free movies four times
a week and each time the show is
different. Some of the pictures
come here before they get to Wash
ington. The girls get kick out OF
that" 1t. White laughed.
The post exchange. also located
in the recreation building, is so com
pletely stocked, she said. that msny
OF the girls have done all theil
Christmas shopping there.