On 13
August 1918,
Opha Mae Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the
Marines.
305 women entered the
Marine Corps in
1918, taking over stateside clerical duties from battle-ready Marines needed overseas. The women were nicknamed Marinettes.
The Marine Corps Women's
Reserve was officially established on
13 February 1943. The first director of the
Marine Corps Women's Reserve was
Major Ruth Cheney Streeter from
Morristown, New Jersey. By the end of
World War II, 85% of all enlisted
U.S. Marine Corps personnel assigned to
Headquarters were women. The MCWR was often referred to as the "
Lady Marines," but with other women's organizations in the
U. S. Military being given catchy names such as WACs,
WAVES, and WASPs, one female reporter thought of the name "
BAM"s for "
Beautiful American Marines"; however many male Marines called them the derogatory term "
Broad Ass Marines".
However, Marine Corps
Gen. Thomas Holcomb who authorized the mobilization of women into the Corps on
February 13, 1943, was emphatic that the Women
Marine reservists were not to be ascribed any sort of nickname. In a
March 1944 issue of
Life magazine, he announced, “They are Marines. They don't have a nickname and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere at a Marine post. They inherit the traditions of Marines. They are Marines.”
Initially, the Marine Corps relied upon the
Navy's training facilities for both its officers and its enlisted women.
Classes began in
March 1943 for both officer candidates and recruits. The first group of women officers received direct commissions, based on their ability, education, and civilian expertise. On 13 March 1943, just one month after the Marine Corps began accepting women, the first class of officer candidates began training at
Mount Holyoke College in
South Hadley, Massachusetts. The first class of recruits (722) completed their recruit training at
Hunter College in
The Bronx, New York. In July 1943, the Marine Corps transferred the officer and recruit training to more permanent facilities in
New River, North Carolina.
Nearly 19,
000 women would complete their training at
New River during the course of the war.
The women were assigned to over
200 different jobs, among them: radio
operator, photographer, parachute rigger, driver, aerial gunnery instructor, cook, baker, quartermaster, control tower operator, motion picture operator, auto mechanic, telegraph operator, cryptographer, laundry operator, post exchange manager, stenographer, and agriculturist. They would serve as the trained nucleus for possible mobilization emergencies. The demobilization of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve of 820 officers and 17,640 enlisted was to be completed by
1 September 1946. Of the 20,000 women who had joined the Marine Corps during World War II, only 1,000 remained in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve on 1 July 1946.
On 12 June 1948, the
United States Congress passed the Women's
Armed Services Integration Act, and made women a permanent part of the regular Marine Corps.
In
1950, the Women
Marine Corps Reserves mobilized for the
Korean War and 2,787 women were called to active duty. By the height of the
Vietnam War, about 2,700 women had served both stateside and overseas. By
1975, the Marine Corps had approved the assignment of women to all occupational fields, except the infantry, artillery, armor, and pilot-air crew. Over 1,000 women were deployed in
Operations Desert Shield and
Desert Storm in
1990–
1991.
- published: 23 Jul 2013
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