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thedrifter
02-11-03, 12:53 PM
Women Marines - Dedicated to Corps and Country

60 Years of Service - Women in the Corps

'Free a man to fight!' This was the call for women to serve in the Marine Corps Reserve during two world wars. Feb. 13, 2003, marks the 60th anniversary of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve. Although 305 women served in the Marine Corps Reserve during World War I, all were separated from service by June 30, 1919 after the war ended. It wasn't until Feb. 13, 1943, that Gen. Thomas Holcomb, the 17th Commandant of the Marine Corps, announced the formation of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve.
In 1917, countless young men volunteered for the Armed Forces, and for the first time in U.S. history, the labor potential of women became important. Pioneers like Pvt. Opha Mae Johnson, the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps Reserve Aug. 13, 1918, paved the way for women in the Marine Corps today. During World War I, most of these women Marines, referred to as Marinettes, freed male Marines from clerical billets at Headquarters Marine Corps, enabling them to fight in France. Others filled jobs at recruiting stations across the country. Although women still didn't have the right to vote, they were willing and able to serve their country.

Twenty-five years later, the country was embroiled in another world war and women again answered the call to serve. More than 22,000 officer and enlisted women joined the Corps during World War II as part of the Women's Reserve. Women Marines in this war performed more than 200 military assignments. In addition to clerical work, they also filled positions as parachute riggers, mechanics, radio operators, mapmakers, and welders. By June 1944, women reservists made up 85 percent of the enlisted personnel on duty at Headquarters Marine Corps and almost two-thirds of the personnel manning all major posts and stations in the United States and Hawaii. At the war's end, Gen. Alexander A. Vandegrift, 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps, credited these women with "putting the 6th Marine Division in the field."

Following Japan's surrender, demobilization of the Women's Reserve proceeded rapidly, with only 1,000 remaining in the reserve by July 1946. Then Congress passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which authorized the acceptance of women into the regular component of the Marine Corps and other Armed Services.

For the first time in history, the Women's Reserve was mobilized in August 1950 for the Korean War, reaching peak strength of 2,787 active-duty women Marines. Again, they stepped into stateside jobs and freed male Marines for combat duty. By the height of the Vietnam War, about 2,700 hundred active-duty women Marines served stateside and overseas. During this period, the Marine Corps began opening career-type formal training programs to women officers and advanced technical training to enlisted women. It was also during the 1970s that women Marines were assigned to Fleet Marine Force units for the first time. By 1975, women could be assigned to all occupational fields except infantry, artillery, armor and pilot/air crew.

The 1990s saw additional changes and increased responsibilities for women in the Marine Corps, including flying combat aircraft. Approximately 1,000 women Marines were deployed to Southwest Asia for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991. Women have served in every rank from private to lieutenant general.

Milestones for women in the Marine Corps include:

Col. Margerat A. Brewer's appointment to brigadier general in 1978 made her the Corps' first woman general officer.
Col. Gail M. Reals was the first woman to be selected by a board of general officers for advancement to the rank of brigadier genera in 1985.
Brig. Gen. Carol A. Mutter became the first woman to assume command of a Fleet Marine Force unit at the flag level when she assumed command of the 3rd Force Service Support Group in Okinawa in 1992.
2nd Lt. Sarah Deal became the first woman Marine selected for Naval aviation training in 1993.
In 1994, Brig. Gen Mutter became the first woman major general in the Corps and the senior woman on active duty in the Armed Forces.
Lt. Gen. Mutter made history again when she became the first woman Marine to wear three stars in 1996.
Today, women serve in 93 percent of all occupational fields and 62 percent of all billets. Women constitute 6.2 percent of the Corps end strength and are an integral part of the Marine Corps.
This, the 60th anniversary of continuous active service of women in the Marine Corps, is a significant part of the Corps' history and today's female Marines carry on that heritage.


Sempers,

Roger

thedrifter
02-11-03, 12:58 PM
Women warriors 100 percent Marine <br />
Submitted by: MCAS Iwakuni <br />
Keyword: <br />
Story Identification Number: 20023613514 <br />
Story by Cpl. Joe Lindsay <br />
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan(March 1,...

thedrifter
02-12-03, 07:22 AM
Pioneer Went West to Serve
by Lance Cpl. Jenn Steimer
Marine Corps News
February 7, 2003


MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- In wartime past, when everyone saved the grease from their cooking and bought war bonds in support of their fighting boys, Vera G. Nelson, a trailblazing, 23-year-old, was among the first women Marines to serve.

She entered in 1943, greeted by disapproving drill instructors, and was forced out less than three years later but not before sailing through the rank structure and helping to open now-closed Marine Corps Air Station El Toro.

Women in the Marine Corps was a brand-new concept midway through World War II. She became a pioneer after she noticed a war poster that appealed to her sense of patriotism. It featured a woman and the quote, "Be a Marine, free a Marine to fight," and she thought to herself, "I can free two."

She then located the nearest recruiting station and found out what it took.

"Even then, I knew the Marine Corps was the best," said Nelson, now 83 and a resident of Oceanside. "I could have walked into the Army recruiting office, signed my name on a piece of paper and been accepted. It was almost the same way with the Navy, too. With the Marine Corps, I had to take an exam that lasted most of the day. I didn't want anything that was too easy."

So, in 1943, the first year the Corps was open to women, she hopped on a train near her hometown of Garland, Texas, and headed to Camp Lejuene, N.C., with only a small overnight bag in her hand.

Upon arriving at the training camp, the group of females traveling with Nelson, some carrying suitcases and wearing heels, were met by a "rude Pfc. who called 'fall out!'" Nelson said.

"We then had to walk with our belongings down (a gravel road beside train tracks). Some of the girls complained about having to walk too far," she said.

Her platoon of 28 women underwent seven weeks of training, which consisted of various classes and long hours of drill. They didn't train with rifles, but they did don gas masks and brave the gas chamber.

Drill instructors were male and "didn't want to be there (training women)," Nelson said.

I remember a time when we were drilling and one of the girls fainted, she said. Our drill instructor had us drill around her until she came around. When she did, he called 'fall in, and she formed back up with us and kept drilling," Nelson said.

Upon graduating from basic training, Nelson became ill and was sent to Cherry Point for treatment.

"After I was well again, I became homesick and restless for my orders," she said. "I just decided one day I would talk to the personnel officer and ask for orders."

She didn't have orders, and the personnel sergeant sent her away. She went out and waited until the sergeant left.

"After she was gone, I walked back in and knocked on the officer's door," she said. "She had me come in, and I stood at attention until she asked me what I wanted.

"I told her if she stationed me where I wanted to be, I would be the best Marine there was. After she looked at me like I had two heads, she called for my qualifications sheet and found a job for me under a colonel in (Naval Air Station) North Island.

"She told me to pack my bags and I was gone by 15-hundred (hours) that afternoon. I was so green at the time, I didn't realize what a miracle that was."

Nelson took a train from North Carolina to North Island, where she was one of only 10 female service members. Making $50 a month as a private first class, Nelson quickly picked up rank as she became more efficient in her job. Within three years, she went from private to technical sergeant - the equivalent of a gunnery sergeant - and her pay topped out at $114 a month.

Like most women in her time, she worked mainly in administration.

In those days, even as an E-7, Nelson and her fellow service members weren't allowed to wear civilian clothes, even during liberty.

"For liberty around San Diego, there were thousands of service members in uniform. It was such a patriotic time," Nelson said.

But times were strict. One girl became pregnant and was sent home. The attitude was that Marines couldn't serve properly while pregnant and with child, Nelson said.

Much like today, going to Tijuana and getting drunk was taboo.

"We had a technical sergeant who was called in front of a formed platoon and stripped of her rank and sent home because she went to Tijuana, got drunk and got picked up by the military police," Nelson said.

By June 1945, Nelson had more than 600 women under her command. Among her duties - preparing the barracks and the mess hall for incoming women at newly opened Marine Corps Air Station El Toro.

Their job was to take the planes ferried in from the Pacific war, repair them, and ferry them back out to the war, she said.

Shortly thereafter, the war was over. Nelson, along with most of the other women Marines, was sent home.

"They didn't need us anymore," Nelson said.

She stayed in the area and married a Marine. They were together 50 years and had a daughter. When he died, she remarried.

Despite being told to leave, she harbors no ill will. She says she never regretted her time in the Corps.

"I loved being in the Marine Corps. I would have stayed in if I could," she said. "I'll never grow out of being proud to say I am a Marine."

Sempers,

Roger

thedrifter
02-13-03, 08:06 AM
Marine fights for first on Okinawa
Submitted by: MCB Camp Butler
Keyword:
Story Identification Number: 2002563428
Story by Cpl. Krystal N. Leach



MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP COURTNEY, Okinawa(April 19, 2002) -- "In order to lead from the front, you got to get some first," according to one Marine's perspective.

This type of motivation pours from the mouth of a female Marine, who graduated April 12 as the first enlisted female on Okinawa in the Black Belt Instructor Trainer Course, part of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Instructor Trainer Course.

The course produces Marines qualified to teach other Marines to become instructors in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.
According to Sgt. Tarra R. Gundrum, motor transport operator, Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, attempting to complete the intense program is all part of a days work as a leader of Marines.

"It's my job as a leader to get this training and give it back to Marines by encouraging them to do the same." Gundrum said.

Setting the example is a familiar concept for Gundrum, as she has already received meritorious corporal and sergeant within her first three years in the Marine Corps.

The course consists of revisiting tan, green and brown belt techniques, and then moving on to black belt training. Hours of kicking, blocking and punching mixed with weapons, warrior cultures, sexual harassment, leadership, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and nutrition training are all mandatory elements of the curriculum.

"All of these portions are covered as part of the process in building a well rounded Marine," Gundrum spoke of the nutrition and CPR requirements. "You have to know these things in order to teach Marines how to take care of themselves."

The students not only learn advanced hand-to-hand combat, ground fighting and bayonet training, but they also learn to engage these techniques in adverse conditions.

"We train in the field and train in low light visibility situations, as well as learning to successfully apply fighting techniques in the water," Gundrum said. "We are trained to apply techniques in all elements which simulate real combat environments."

The students are not only trained to be physically tough, but their minds are expected to be just as strong.

The students study some of the history behind certain fighting techniques. Apache and Okinawa warrior cultures are two of the techniques studied.

According to Gundrum, when the body is tired, the students must have enough mental stamina to complete certain obstacles in the course.

"After running five times through the infamous obstacle course, we are expected to be able to apply the fighting techniques," Gundrum explained.

With the saying, "Eight-hour movement, 20-second fight," Lt. Col. George H. Bristol, director of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program believes Marines, male or female, should train to have enough stamina to fight and conquer the enemy in a matter of seconds even after hours of ground movement.

"This training is one of the few aspects of Marine Corps culture where training is the same for both male and female," Bristol stated.

Regardless of gender, a Marine who attempts the instructor trainer course must be able to complete these rigorous combat simulations.

Despite being the only female in the class, "Gundrum is one of the most capable students in the class," Bristol confessed.
Gundrum's next venture in the Marine Corps is at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island's drill field.

Sempers,

Roger

Sophora
02-13-03, 01:33 PM
E.M. Friend (later Corbin) Boot Camp graduation 1953.

thedrifter
02-16-03, 08:28 AM
Thanks Sophie for sharing.......... <br />
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Female Marines <br />
proud of service <br />
Group gathering today <br />
to mark anniversary <br />
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Brad McElhinny &lt;bradmc@dailymail.com&gt;

thedrifter
02-25-03, 11:41 AM
Marine Corps celebrates women Marines' contributions <br />
Submitted by: Headquarters Marine Corps <br />
Story Identification Number: 200322511549 <br />
Story by Staff Sgt. Cindy Fisher <br />
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ARLINGTON, Va.(Feb....