Women’s History Month – Page 2

A Woman’s Touch

Who doesn’t like a dust ruffle? Certainly adds a bit of flair to those Navy bed corners.

This comic comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

From Recruit to Salty Wave

Many WAVES wrote short books about their experiences, designed to make the transition from civilian to WAVE easier for other recruits.

Marjorie Sue Green’s booklet From Recruit to Salty WAVE! The Ordeal of Seaman Green is an example of one of those books. It’s a highly-illustrated account of Green’s transformation from civilian to military.

This is one of the first images in the book, showing the experience at the recruitment office.

It comes from The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Submarines

Women began submarine training in 2011, after the announcement in the previous year that women would be allowed to serve on Ohio class submarines.

This photograph shows women in training at the U.S. Navy base in Groton, CT. It comes from the U.S. Navy.

First Carrier Air Wing Commander

Captain Sara Joyner in 2010 became the first woman named to head a Carrier Air Wing. Her appointment was announced at the 23rd annual Women’s Leadership Symposium in Washington.

This photograph comes from the U.S. Navy.

First Carrier Strike Group Commander

Various women’s firsts would continue over the years. First Hispanic Brigadier General. First African American pilot. First helicopter pilot. First combatant ship commander. In 2010, the Navy appointed Rear Admiral Nora Tyson to be the first female to command a carrier strike group.

This photograph comes from the Naval History and Heritage Command.

On to Combat Ships

Women were allowed to serve aboard ships in 1978, but it wouldn’t be until 1993 that women were allowed on combatant ships.

This photograph shows Cmdr. Kris Doyle, commanding officer of the littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1), explains the readiness control officer console on Freedom’s bridge to Rear Adm. Earl L. Gay. It comes from the U.S. Navy.

First Naval Station Commander

1990 offered another first for women in the Navy. Captain Marsha J. Evans was named the commander of Naval Station Treasure Island in San Francisco. She would later become a Rear Admiral in the Navy.

This photograph comes from the Naval History and Heritage Command.

First Woman Ship Commander

Women served on ships in a variety of duties for more than 10 years before the first woman would be named a ship’s commander. That was Lieutenant Commander Darlene Iskra, who was named the commander of the USS Opportune.

This photograph comes from the Whidbey Crosswind.

Women on Ships

The milestones continued in the 1970s. The Navy’s women in ships program began in 1978. It allowed women to serve on a wide variety of auxiliary ships (but not combat ships).

This photograph shows Seaman Recruit Joy Turner in the doorway of a repair ship. In 1978, USS Vulcan became the first U.S. Navy ship other than a hospital ship to have women permanently stationed on board.

The photograph comes from the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Service Academies

In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 94-106 requiring the service academies to admit women by 1976. Women began their training that fall for the class of 1980

Eighty-one women were in that first class and 55 graduated. Elizabeth Belzer was the first woman graduate and Janie L. Mines, the first black female graduate.

This photograph of the class of 1980 comes from USO On Patrol.