$Unique_ID{bob01120}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{(A) History Of The Women Marines 1946-1977
Chapter 10}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Stremlow, Col. Mary V.}
$Affiliation{U.S. Marine Corps Reserve}
$Subject{officer
women
training
lieutenant
course
basic
school
second
officers
marine
see
pictures
see
figures
}
$Date{1986}
$Log{See 2nd Platoon on Exercises*0112001.scf
}
Title:       (A) History Of The Women Marines 1946-1977
Author:      Stremlow, Col. Mary V.
Affiliation: U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
Date:        1986

Chapter 10

Officer Training

     Marine officer training, conducted at Quantico, Virginia is the sum of
the precommissioning officer candidate course and the post-commissioning basic
course.  From 1949 to 1973 the women trained separately from then, under the
auspices of a women's unit, called at various times: Woman Officer Training
Detachment (1949-1955), Women Marines Training Detachment (1955 -1958), Women
Marines Detachment (1958-1965), and Woman Officer School (1965 - 1974).
Customarily, a woman lieutenant colonel, heading a female staff, was
responsible for the administration and training of the students.  From 1949 to
1954 the Woman Officer Training Detachment was under the control of The Basic
School for matters pertaining to training, and under Headquarters Battalion,
Marine Corp Schools for all else.  The name was changed to Women Marines
Training Detachment in 1955 and the G-3, Marine Corps Schools, took over the
responsibilities formerly held by The Basic School.

     For nearly two years, until 17 December 1958, the women Marine company,
Company D, made up of the post troops was a component of Headquarters
Battalion.  When the Women Marines Detachment was activated a two-part women's
unit composed of Headquarters Company and the Woman Officer Training Class.
The name changed once more in 1965 to the Woman Officer School and the
training functions came under the responsibility of the Marine Corps Education
Center, but the woman Marine company remained a part of the unit.

     Organizationally, the most significant change came on 1 June 1973 when
the Woman Officer School was designated a school under the Education Center.
The former commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Carolyn J. Walsh, became the
director and the functions of the woman Marine company were transferred to
Headquarters Battalion where they first began in the days before Korea.  On 20
December 1974, the Woman Officer School was disestablished; the training of
candidates became the responsibility of the formerly all-male Officer
Candidates School; and the newly commissioned women lieutenants moved to The
Basic School at Camp Barrett, an outpost of the main command at Quantico.

Location

     Women Marine officers lived and trained from 1948 to 1973 in the
southeast corner of the base in an area bordered on one side by the Potomac
River and on another by the town of Quantico.  The commanding officer and her
staff moved from Building 3091 across from the mess hall to 3094 down the
street and back again.  For almost the entire period, candidates were
quartered in Barracks 3076.  Suitable billeting space for the women once
commissioned always posed a problem as the choices were limited.  Some classes
of student officers remained in the same barracks, living in open squadbays as
they had as candidates; others moved to Building 3091 where semiprivate rooms
were available, if there were not too many staff noncommissioned officers on
board.  A few classes were quartered at the Cinder City BOQ, which in later
years became the base Hostess House.

     This perplexing problem was brought on by the small number of classes
involved.  Never did more than two classes of officer candidates train in one
year, and more often there was only one.  Since the billeting space was vacant
for as much as six months of the year, it was not economical to set aside
quarters for the women lieutenants comparable to the BOQs enjoyed by the men.

     The WM area at Quantico was nearly self-contained: barracks, mess hall,
small dispensary (when officer candidates were on board), drill field, and
classroom.  Early classes, at least until the mid-1950's, received their
uniform issue in the sweltering hut behind the barracks while later groups
were bused mainside to the clothing warehouse.

     Whenever available, the air-conditioned classrooms of Breckenridge or
Geiger Halls were used rather than the uncomfortable barracks classroom.
Lieutenant Colonel Emma H. Clowers, twice commanding officer of the training
detachment, wrote:

I remember how we begged and pleaded, and yes, fought to get just one
air-conditioned classroom - in the barracks or anywhere - large enough to
accommodate hot summer days of training.  And how we envied Educational Center
and even Basic School, with their fine air-conditioned, well designed
classrooms, with all necessary training aids and facilities.

     Again the small numbers involved mitigated against any large expenditures
of money.  The male programs not only trained many times the number of
candidates, but they operated on a year-round schedule, making efficient use
of all facilities.

Training Program

     Judging from the numerous organizational adjustments, one would expect to
find parallel changes in the training of officer candidates, but that did not
generally happen.  With only one exception, the training of women lieutenants
was done on a schedule of 12 weeks' candidates training and six weeks' basic
course from 1949 until 1962.  In 1951, because of the Korean War and the
critical shortage of Marines, the basic course was shortened to four weeks.
The 12 weeks precommissioning portion did not vary for the 13-year period.  It
was divided into a junior and senior course with college sophomores eligible
to attend the first six weeks, and college seniors and graduates completing
the entire course in one summer.  The sophomore who successfully made it
through the junior phase was then able to return another summer to finish the
senior phase.  College graduates and former enlisted women were commissioned
and continued on to the basic course located in the same area, and conducted
by the same staff as the candidate training.

     Several changes were made from 1962 to 1973 which resulted in a shortened
candidate course varying from seven to 10 weeks and a lengthened basic course
of up to nine weeks.

     During the initial stages of training, the daily routine, candidate
regulations, and course material was not significantly different from what was
found in recruit training.  The most obvious dissimilarities were the
assignment of officer platoon leaders at Quantico versus the women platoon
sergeants at Parris Island and the liberty granted to candidates.

     At Quantico, the goal was twofold: first, to produce a basic Marine and
develop her leadership potential.  Secondly, the candidate course was
considered a screening process, a place to observe each potential new woman
officer.  To this end, officer candidates were allowed a measure of freedom in
the form of liberty one or two nights a week and on weekends.  Those with good
sense used it wisely.  Additionally, candidates were given a number of
leadership assignments, duties which set each woman apart from the group and
which demanded, in their execution, the use of good judgement, initiative, and
force.

     After commissioning, during the phase of training originally known as the
Woman Officer Indoctrination Course (WOIC) and in 1962 changed to the Woman
Officer Basic Course (WOBC), the lieutenants were given extra doses of freedom
and responsibility.  They arose, not at reveille, but in time to accomplish
their chores and be ready for inspection at the appointed minute.  At night,
they turned in not at lights out, but in time to get sufficient rest to
prepare them for a day of training.  Classroom lectures and demonstrations
emphasized their role as a leader and much time was spent in problem-solving
seminars, often chaired by the commanding officer. The second lieutenants
accompanied the regularly assigned duty officer on her tours, took personnel
and barracks inspections, and delivered prepared lectures to their classmates.

Traditions

     Traditions of the type seen at recruit training never developed around
either the officer candidate course or the basic course.  Again, numbers may
be a factor.  With only one class in session at a time, there was no
opportunity for a junior platoon to emulate a senior platoon.  The staff
members closest to the candidates, the platoon leaders, and instructors,
seldom worked with mote than one platoon.  At Parris Island, on the other
hand, the drill instructors, both senior and junior, graduated one platoon and
immediately picked up another.  There was a thread of continuity unknown at
Quantico.

     There were, however, two occasions generally remembered by officers
commissioned in the 1950's and 1960's.  The first was the WOTC picnic held
just before graduation, and highlighted by the students' impersonations of
staff members.  The second was the official call made by the lieutenants at
the home of the commanding officer.

     A long-standing military custom held that each officer, upon arriving at
a new base should call, formally, on his commanding officer.  Protocol
dictated that the visit be made in civilian clothes with a hat (although some
authorities called for the dress uniform); the visit should last precisely 20
minutes; and the proper number of engraved calling cards had to be deposited
in a waiting tray.  Until the 1970's the tradition was rigidly adhered to at
the Quantico women's detachment.  It gave the second lieutenants an
opportunity to practice the procedure and gave the commanding officer a chance
to see the young officer in a somewhat formal social situation.

     Officer candidates were advised to bring a hat to training, but not many
complied.  The few hats per platoon made many calls on the commanding officer.
The students were scheduled to call in small groups and as one contingent
left, their hats were passed on to those waiting outside.  The commanding
officer, meanwhile, greeted each guest, with a straight face and an inner
smile.  White gloves, often in short supply, were sometimes doled out one
glove per student, each one trying to hold the single glove as inconspicuously
as possible.

     At the call, drinks were offered and although a second was suggested, the
lieutenants were expected to refuse and to bring the call gracefully to a
close.  Sometimes the commanding officer would tactfully help, but often the
young women were on their own to excuse themselves, say goodbye, and drop
their cards as if they did that sort of thing every day.  As awkward as the
new officers felt, it probably never occurred to them that at times the
commanding officer was equally uneasy.  Colonel Hamblet recalled her tour at
the Woman Officer Training Detachment in 1951 when she presided at the formal
calls in her suite at the senior officers' BOQ, Harry Lee Hall. Major Dorothy
M. Knox, the executive officer, was there to help and the two, somewhat
apprehensively, awaited the arrival of the second lieutenants.  The meeting
got off to a poor start when one of the guests was asked if she would like to
remove her coat, and she answered she was not wearing one - she had on a
coat-styled dress.

     By the 1970's, the calls became far more casual, even replaced by group
cookouts at the home of the commanding officer.  When the training of women
officers was integrated with the male officers, large groups made calls in
dress uniforms at one of the officers' clubs on the base.

Awards

     Awards for honor graduates of the officer candidate and basic courses
have varied with none standing out in the manner of a tradition.  The Marine
Corps Association has from time to time given wrist watches or dress emblems
to the candidate finishing first in her class.  The Women Marines Association,
for some years, presented the honor woman with a statuette of Molly Marine.

1973-1977

     The Woman Officer Candidate Course and Woman Officer Basic Course
underwent numerous stylistic but no philosophical changes for 25 years.  It
must be said that women officers were being prepared for the limited duties
they were allowed to perform.  The expanded role played by women in the Corps
in the years after the Pepper Board, increased interest in careers even by
married women officers, improved retention, and unprecedented procurement
success, all led to some new thinking about the training of women.  It also
happened that in 1972 the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Cushman,
directed the Marine Corps Development and Education Command at Quantico to
convene a panel to study the programs and goals for the education of Marines
to determine if they, in fact, supported Marine Corps needs.  The results,
submitted on 31 May 1972 by the chairman, Colonel William F. Saunders, Jr.,
included the recommendation that when facilities permitted the WOBC and The
Basic School should be merged into a single command and male and female
officer candidates be trained in a single course.  The action would mean the
disestablishment of WOS and the activation of a women Marine company
Headquarters Battalion MCDEC.

     Regarding the section of the study pertaining to the women's schools, the
Commandant, on 20 February 1973, approved the idea to relocate WOBC to Camp
Barrett when facilities would allow and the integration of portions of the
instruction given by the two schools.  He specifically stated, "The
disestablishment of the Woman Officer School is not anticipated."  His final
words, "The study will have far-reaching impact on shaping Marine Corps
professional and academic education in the future," proved prophetic for women
Marines.

     Lieutenant General Robert P. Keller, Commanding General, MCDEC, finding
the operation of WOS as a separate entity to be inefficient, transferred the
company of women Marines from the cognizance of WOS to Headquarters Battalion
as Company B on 11 June 1973.  The next day WOS was disestablished as a
command and redesignated as a school within the education center, and its
commanding officer became the director.

     Concurrently, the administration but not the training of women officer
candidates was placed under the control of the Director of the Officer
Candidates School.  The 32nd Woman Officer Candidate Class (WOCC) was entered
into the records as Company W, with both WOS and the Officer Candidates School
performing the administration.  On 13 August 1973, the academic section of WOS
moved to The Basic School and two days later the newly commissioned officers
of the 32nd WOBC moved into quarters at Graves Hall, Camp Barrett.  From that
time until January 1977 the women officer students were trained in separate,
independent companies, receiving selected academic and leadership instruction
from The Basic School staff. Course curriculum varied in length from 10 to 12
weeks.

     Closer ties were made with the Officer Candidates School when the
reporting date for the 35th WOCC was scheduled so that its graduation date
would coincide with that of the 90th OCC on 20 December 1974.  The two
separate classes shared related training, participated in a combined parade on
19 December 1974 at Brown Field, and graduated together the following day.
Once again, to save personnel and to avoid duplication of training effort, the
Commanding General, MCDEC, had recommended that WOS be dissolved, suggesting
20 December, graduation day the 35th WOCC, as a target dates.  Accordingly,
WOS was disestablished and the WOCC and the WOB were maintained as separate
courses under the direction of the Officer Candidates School and The Basic
School respectively.

Towards Total Integration

     At The Basic School, Company L (Lima Company), became the company of
student women officers.  In 1976 Major Barbara E. Dolyak, in the course of
being briefed for her duties as company commander, questioned the differences
in training given male and female officers.  At the time, WOBC was 12 weeks
compared to 26 weeks for the men's basic course.  Just as she was wondering,
"Why can't the women do it?," the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General
Wilson, published White Letter No. 5-76 on the subject of Women Marines, and
addressed it to all general officers, commanding officers, and officers in
charge.  In it he stressed the fact that increased opportunities for women
demanded positive leadership and management action on the part of commanders
relative to their assignment, training, utilization, and welfare.  He
suggested that the requirement for separate women's units be reviewed, and
continued, "In the same view, commanders who are responsible for the conduct
of professional schools should review curricula to ensure that the training
offered prepares Marines to lead irrespective of sex."

     The promulgation of the White Letter prompted Colonel Clyde D. Dean,
Commanding Officer at The Basic School, to discuss its possible ramifications
with Major Dolyak.  And so, at this time, the summer of 1976, the thought of
combined training for men and women officers was in the serious talking stage.
It gained momentum with the arrival in August of the lieutenants of the 38th
WOBC, several of whom had completed totally integrated Naval Reserve Officers'
Training Corps (NROTC) in college.  In Major Dolyak's words, "These women were
ready to go."  They were enthusiastic and like a good many women of their
generation, they expected a more integrated training program.

     During a talk to the students of TBS, the Commanding General of MCDEC,
Lieutenant General Joseph C. Fegan, Jr., was questioned by the women on their
abbreviated course.  They were not satisfied with the answer.  Later,
participating in a combined field exercise which required carrying but not
firing a weapon, the women were incensed when they were issued rubber rifles.

     Coincidentally, Lieutenant Colonel Edward M. Mockler, at The Basic
School, was conducting a review of the program of instruction for male
lieutenants.  Traditionally, the mission of the school had been to:

. . . educate newly commissioned officers in the high standards of
professional knowledge, esprit de corps and leadership traditional in the
Marine Corps to prepare them for duties of a company grade officer in the
Fleet Marine Force, with particular emphasis on duties of a rifle platoon
commander.

     However, in 1976, only 18 percent of the newly commissioned male officers
were classified as infantry officers, and in 1977 the projection was to be
only 12 percent.  The remaining 82 percent were assigned to aviation, combat
support, and combat service elements, all of whom exist solely to support the
infantry unit.  Plans were being made to shorten the male officer basic course
from 26 weeks to 21 weeks and to create an advanced infantry officer course as
followup training for those assigned an infantry MOS.  In this way, all male
officers, sharing a common education and mindful of the interdependence
between combat and support units, would be better prepared to lead the Marines
under their command.

     In the course of staff briefings on the reduced syllabus, Major Dolyak
posed the incisive question, "If it is essential that male Marine lawyers and
supply officers share this commonality of experience with the infantryman, why
isn't it important for the women?"  Lieutenant Colonel Mockler responded,
"You've got me, I don't have a logical answer."

     In Lieutenant Colonel Dolyak's view, that was the turning point in the
training of women officers.  Her question was mulled over and discussed but
not immediately acted upon.

     The Basic School carried through with the proposal for a 21-week course,
briefing first Brigadier General Paul X. Kelley, Director of the Education
Center and then Lieutenant General Fegan on 20 October 1976.  The plan was
sent to the Commandant in early November 1976, and on the 24th it was approved
in concept.  The possibility of a combined male/female class was not yet
broached in either briefings or correspondence.

     During November and December, The Basic School staff reviewed the new
21-week syllabus with an eye toward a combined class.  With this in mind,
Major Dolyak visited the United States Naval Academy and the Army's combined
Officer Candidates School at Fort Benning, Georgia, to discuss lessons they
had learned in the process of integrating training.  Then, on 20 December,
Lieutenant General Fegan wrote the Commandant of his intention to conduct a
pilot consolidated male/female Basic Course beginning with Basic Class 3-77
(BC 3-77) on 4 January 1977.  The Commandant's White Letter 5-76 was
referenced as and understanding of such fundamental subjects as the Fleet
Marine Force, Marine air-ground task forces, and the field environment.

     Timing was crucial.  WOBC-39 was scheduled to begin in two weeks on 4
January and there would not be another class of women until August. Quantico
intended to move quickly and needed waivers of Marine Corps policies that
prohibited women from firing the rifle and pistol for qualification and from
participating in field exercises.  There was never any intent to train women
for combat, but, rather, ". . . to provide each woman officer with . . .
commonality of origin, experience, and education in order to broaden her
perspective and make her a more effective leader of those Marines placed in
her charge."

     In reply to General Fegan's letter, the Commandant stated his commitment
to preparing women for their increasing duties and responsibilities associated
with their support role.  But, he added, ". . . in conducting the pilot
program, due consideration must be given to the noncombatant role of women and
to the physiological differences between men and women."  Regarding weapons
and tactics skills, guidance dictated an emphasis on orientation,
familiarization, and defensive training.

     The fact that the women lieutenants had not received comparable physical
conditioning during the candidate course was of some concern to all parties.
For the pilot program, the women participated in all exercises but were graded
on the physical fitness program for WMs in which they ran one and one-half
miles rather than the three-mile course prescribed for men.  And, the obstacle
course grades were weighted differently.  Because of these limitations, as
well as the experimental nature of the combined class, the class standings
were delineated by sex.

Second Platoon, Company C, BC 3-77 (January 1977-26 May 1977)

     The second platoon, Company C, BC 3-77, under staff platoon commander
Captain Robin L. Austin, plunged into a training course made up of such
subjects as basic tactics, patrolling, vertical development operations,
tank-infantry operations, amphibious warfare, physical training, aviation and
ground support, infantry weapons, supporting arms, land navigation, military
law, communications, and combat intelligence.  The 22 women were divided into
groups of five or six and attached to the remaining five male platoons for
field exercises.  In all, Company C (Charlie Company) was made up of 243 male
and 22 female lieutenants commanded by Major Guy A. Pete, Jr.  Nicknamed after
a popular 1977 TV show based on the experiences of three women detectives, 2nd
platoon became known as "Charlie's Angels."

[See 2nd Platoon on Exercises: Women lieutenants of the 2d Platoon, Company C,
the first integrated Basic School unit, debark an amtrack during exercises at
Quantico, Virginia, on 20 April 1977.]

     Aside from exposure to field conditions, the women gained first-hand
experience in leadership positions.  They took their turns as platoon
sergeants, squad leaders, and guides, which gave them heretofore out-of-reach
practice in leading men and developing the techniques and tact necessary in
dealing with problems men encounter as Marines.  Previously, women lieutenants
took over male-dominated sections without having this experience to fall back
on.

     Like thousands of male lieutenants before them, the WMs took part in the
Basic School Landing Exercise (BaScoLEx) in which a company of student
officers storms ashore on Onslow Beach at Camp Lejeune during a practice
amphibious assault.  To their consternation the women were bused from Quantico
to Camp Lejeune while the men made the trip by sea.  The law forbade their
service on board ship, so when at 0900, 20 April 1977, about 200 male
lieutenants swept across Onslow Beach, they were confronted by the 2nd Platoon
(women) and the 5th Platoon (men) playing the role of inland aggressors.

     The new twist to the BaScoLEx prompted a number of remarks of a sexist
nature from the men.  A few said the women should not be in the field at all.
Others thought it unfair that the law prevented them from taking part in the
entire exercise.  Most of the men, at any rate, seemed to support the women's
efforts and liked to see them do well in the field.

     The platoon commander, Captain Austin, acknowledged some prejudice in the
company, but she also cited a contradictory incident which had occurred three
days before the BaScoLEx.  "We all completed a 12-mile forced march and 4-mile
run," she explained.  "Following the run, a male lieutenant regarded as the
company's worst chauvinist, gave us a smile and the okay sign.  We felt
accepted."

     There were some problems at the outset, most of which were expected. The
women tended to straggle and bring up the rear on the long marches, but
eventually made it.  Some suffered stress fractures of the lower leg just as
the women at the military academies had.  A woman lieutenant on crutches was
not an unfamiliar sight.  As the pilot program progressed, emphasis on
conditioning was stressed during scheduled periods of physical training and by
the midpoint of the program the female officer students were able to keep up
with their male counterparts during field problems, conditioning hikes, and
company runs.

     One factor that had not been anticipated and that affected training to a
degree was the intense and continuous interest of the news media.  Initial
stories were expected, but not 21 weeks of interminable coverage.  It became
tiring for the women, distracting for the men, and a source of resentment
dividing the sexes.  Charlie Company found itself on the front page of The
Washington Post and in newspapers around the world.  Brigadier General Kelley
was questioned repeatedly on the purpose of the combined training. He summed
up the prevailing philosophy, saying:

Our decision is based on a firm conviction that our young women officers must
be informed on all facets of our Corps, to include rigors of field
environment, if we expect them to fulfill the broad variety of tasks we have
and will assign to them in our Fleet Marine Force.

The members of the history-making 2nd Platoon Company C, BC 3-77 were:

     Second Lieutenant Linda L. Belanger
     Second Lieutenant Christine A. Benson
     Second Lieutenant Patricia P. Blaha
     Second Lieutenant Diana C. Day
     Second Lieutenant Mary A. Devlin
     Second Lieutenant June M. Dignan
     Second Lieutenant Colleen M. Flynn
     Second Lieutenant Robin C. Garrett
     Second Lieutenant Megan A. Gillespie
     Second Lieutenant Gayle W. Haney
     Second Lieutenant Georgia J. Jobusch
     Second Lieutenant Bonnie J. Joseph
     Second Lieutenant Rosa K. Knight
     Second Lieutenant Janie D. Loftis
     Second Lieutenant Bonnie L. MacPherson
     Second Lieutenant Jennifer J. Martell
     Second Lieutenant Ann M. Milinovich
     Second Lieutenant Angelica V. Ritscher
     Second Lieutenant Judith C. Shaw
     Second Lieutenant Gloria M. Stottlemyre
     Second Lieutenant Jo Ann Taylor