$Unique_ID{bob01121} $Pretitle{} $Title{(A) History Of The Women Marines 1946-1977 Chapter 11} $Subtitle{} $Author{Stremlow, Col. Mary V.} $Affiliation{U.S. Marine Corps Reserve} $Subject{women marines company marine barracks wm officer wms woman officers see pictures see figures } $Date{1986} $Log{See One Stuffed Animal Per Bunk*0112101.scf } Title: (A) History Of The Women Marines 1946-1977 Author: Stremlow, Col. Mary V. Affiliation: U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Date: 1986 Chapter 11 Administration of Women The Woman Marine Company was long a standard unit on posts and stations wherever WMs served. It was Colonel Towle's expressed policy that no woman Marine would serve alone and that a woman officer would be assigned wherever enlisted women were located. Since it was bothersome to arrange billeting for a small number of women, it naturally evolved that women were only assigned to bases that could utilize and support a sizable number and where women could be organized into a single WM unit. Women Marines have long been considered an integral part of the Marine Corps, and the WM company was fitted into the existing command structure. For administrative purposes all WMs were carried on the rolls of the Woman Marine Company, which normally was part of Headquarters or Headquarters and Service Battalion. The table of organization of a typical WM company indicated only the personnel required to command and administer it: the commanding officer, the executive officer, the first sergeant, clerks, and a police and property NCO. The strength of the company bore no relation to the table of organization as the women making up the company were filling other authorized billets throughout the base. There has been a certain amount of confusion over the name of WM units. Colonel Hamblet, when she was Director of Women Marines, settled the issue in 1958, drawing attention to the variety of titles in existence. She cited such examples as Women Marine Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Camp Pendleton; Women Marines Detachment Two, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point; and Woman Marine Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. In the interest of uniformity, it was decided to use the words "Woman" with an "a" and "Marine" without an "s" in the title designations. Once in a while the WM companies were given letter names - most often Company D, which lent itself to the nickname, "Dolly Company." In one instance, at Pearl Harbor in 1952-1956, the women Marines were Company A - no recorded nickname. At Marine Corps air stations, the women were organized into a detachment, which was a squadron level unit. In these cases, the table of organization called for a sergeant major rather than a first sergeant. Administratively, this plan of grouping all WMs into one company while they worked throughout the command, differed from the organization of male Marines who were attached to a company within the same battalion for which they worked. For the male Marine, his work supervisor and his company commander were in the same chain of command; for the WM, her work supervisor could belong to one battalion while her commanding officer belonged to another. A cooperative spirit among commands was absolutely essential since often the interests of the work supervisor and those of the commanding officer clashed. Leave and liberty, for example, were granted by the commanding officer, based upon a written release by the work supervisor. Company duty assignments, inspections, and barracks field nights infringed on women's work responsibilities and vice versa. On matters of discipline, if a work supervisor put a woman on report, it was handled not within his chain of command, but through her company and, when necessary, battalion. In spite of these areas of potential conflict, the system worked relatively smoothly from 1948 until 1974 when an emphasis on a "total Marine Corps" brought into question the need for separate women commands. An ad hoc committee met in 1973 and made a number of proposals which opened new career opportunities for women in the Marine Corps and also recommended changes in policies that tend to set the women apart as if a separate entity. As women moved into more and more previously all-male fields, commanders challenged the tradition of woman Marine companies. From posts and stations came the suggestion to disband the units and to treat the women as all other Marines. The Commandant's White Letter No. 5-76 also addressed this matter: With the achievement of more complete integration of women, the requirement for separate women's units should be reviewed. Positive benefits can be derived from assigning women Marines administratively to their duty units. During transition periods, you may find it desirable to establish additional duty billets for a woman officer or staff noncommissioned officer to work as "Special Assistants" in providing guidance relative to woman Marine matters. In June 1977 only three WM companies remained - at Henderson Hall, at Norfolk, and at Camp Lejeune. The others had been deactivated upon the request and justification of the commanding generals of the bases at which the WM units had been located. Where no woman Marine company existed, women were administratively attached to the unit for which they worked, but the billeting was handled in one of several ways. They could be billeted in a barracks which came under the jurisdiction of the command to which they were assigned. A prime example was Base Materiel Battalion at Camp lejeune, where in 1976 the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel George J. Ballard, asked to have the WMs working in his battalion transferred to, and billeted with his unit. Although a company for all other WMs was still maintained, the women of Base Materiel Battalion were transferred. The battalion occupied a new motel-like barracks in which all rooms had outside entrances. Lounges, laundries, and other common areas were shared by men and women. The WMs, as was their habit, decorated their rooms and displayed colored towels, and according to Major Gerald W. Sims, the executive officer, the male Marines had not objected. The company commander, Captain Vernon C. Graham, and First Sergeant Charlie L. Boyd of Headquarters and Service Company were enthusiastic about the value of having complete control of and responsibility for all Marines in the command. In the spring of 1977, members of the staff admitted that this was a new idea for the Marine Corps and in some way an experiment. Some procedures were being changed. Weekly training, for example, found the women drilling and inspected as a separate platoon, and thought was being given to integrating the women into the male platoons. At Quantico, things were handled differently. After the deactivation of the WM company in 1976 women Marines from 11 Marine Corps Development and Education Center units lived in three barracks. That fall it was decided to put the women under one roof again and a new Bachelor Enlisted Quarters was renovated for them. This system paralleled the one in existence in 1977 at Cherry Point where the WM detachment was deactivated on 31 December 1974. The women were administratively transferred to the various squadrons and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, but they remained in the same barracks they had previously occupied. Under this arrangement, a woman NCO was responsible for the barracks, its cleanliness, maintenance, and security. She checked women in and out, held linen call, and prepared duty rosters. On a three-month assignment, she was away from her regular job for that length of time. These barracks NCOs, like Corporal Kay Frazier at Twentynine Palms in 1975, Staff Sergeant Sandra Hoolailo at Quantico, and Sergeant Carol Fox at Cherry Point in 1977 found that they were involved in many areas formerly handled by women commanding officers or first sergeants. Disputes between roommates, personal problems, and work dissatisfaction were some of the matters brought to the NCO. Infractions of barracks regulations and the preparation of duty rosters still required coordination between the battalion or squadron maintaining the barracks and the duty units of the women. Sergeant Fox, who was stationed at Cherry Point when WMD-2 was active, and who carried the colors at the deactivation ceremonies, compared both systems. In her view, the women had more esprit and were a closer unit when under one command. The commanding officer and first sergeant knew the women personally and were interested in them as individuals. Since the deactivation of the detachment, Sergeant Fox felt that unit pride had virtually disappeared; the barracks was no longer a scrupulously clean showplace; WM activities, like picnics or ball games, were nonexistent; and the women never paraded or marched as a unit. She particularly recalled the spirit and pride they had felt in the past after events such as IG inspections. Private First Class Katie Jones Dixon and Lance Corporal Judith Coy, interviewed at Cherry Point were, on the other hand, quite satisfied with the arrangement and voiced no complaints. One found, in 1977, senior WMs, officer and enlisted, who were unsure of the merits of the newer way for two reasons: first, deactivation of WM companies eliminated the primary source of command experience for company grade officers; and second, the WM company was a source of group spirit and pride for the women Marines. A not uncommon sentiment was that women would never truly be accepted as Marines by male Marines, and therefore they needed some visible unit to identify with. Others - most often junior WMs - saw the deactivation of WM companies as a sign that women Marines were truly Marines and not a separate corps. An offshoot of the deactivation of WM companies was the new experience for women having male commanding officers and the novel experience for the men - commanding women. Staffs of mixed gender were no longer unusual, and male Marines were not apt to suffer fits of apoplexy when reporting in and finding the company clerk or executive officer wearing a skirt. Colonel Margaret A. Brewer, the Director of Women Marines during this period of change, when asked if she thought that the venture of integrating women into male units was successful, answered that much depended upon the quality of the leadership. Where the commanding officers took positive steps to integrate the women and to make them feel welcome, the system worked. Women Marines told her that they felt more like Marines - like they belonged. More importantly, the men took the trouble to learn about WMs, their regulations, concerns, and problems. It happened less frequently that male Marines called on WM officers and SNCOs to handle the routine matters involving women: uniform discrepancies, poor work habits, and lapses in military courtesy. Some "old salts" discovered that the presence of a few WMs had a beneficial effect on behavior, language, and discipline of the entire unit. Supervision and Guidance of Women Marines A long-standing tradition, wherever WM companies were found, was that all women Marine officers and staff noncommissioned officers regardless of their assignment, accepted some responsibility for the company. The commanding officer naturally had the primary responsibility of administration, discipline, training, morale, and billeting of the enlisted WMs, but all company grade officers, SNCOs, and NCOs stood WM company duty; took their turn giving lectures on the training schedule; were apt to be assigned as platoon leaders; and attended all company sponsored athletic and social happenings. Every WM second lieutenant left Quantico well indoctrinated with the idea that the health, happiness, performance, and appearance of all WMs junior to her were matters of her concern, and the same theme was reiterated in all phases of NCO training. Colonel Towle set the example in the very beginning when, in 1949, she invited all newly integrated WM officers to her apartment for tea. Lieutenant Colonel Munn remembers the care with which they dressed - hat and gloves - and in 1977 reflected on how wise it was of the colonel to bring them all together, even though they worked throughout the Headquarters. Colonel Hamblet, who succeeded Colonel Towle as Director of Women Marines, believed that senior women Marines, officer and enlisted, in their relationship with juniors, should be concerned with the "total" person and her development. The receptions that women Marines customarily gave for the Director when she made her annual visit were a part of this philosophy. The purpose was not only to give the women and the Director an opportunity to meet informally and look each other over, but it was an enjoyable way to learn something about entertaining, extending invitations, making introductions, and carrying on social conversations. In most cases, the work supervisors and their wives were invited and in Colonel Hamblet's view, it was beneficial for them to see the WMs in their own environment - often leading to a better understanding between the sexes. To be sure, not all the women wanted to get involved in these affairs, but gentle persuasion and a little well directed leadership on the part of the commanding officer and the first sergeant worked wonders. Very often, younger women were uncomfortable with the prospect of entertaining senior Marines and this accounted for their apparent disinterest. When the party was over, obviously a success, and when the women received the compliments of the invited Marines and their ladies, they were in Colonel Hamblet's words, ". . . pleased as punch." All women staff noncommissioned officers took an active role in the supervision and guidance of younger WMs. They were considered a vital link between the commanding officer and her women, spotting potential problems and alert to changes in mood and morale. During the 13-year period between the time postwar enlistment was opened to nonveterans in January 1949 until World War II WMs began to retire in 1962, there existed a group of staff noncommissioned officers, older and more experienced, who felt a real obligation to the younger Marines. Due to the fact that there was no recruiting of women from 1945 to 1949, and because the WMs were at least 20 years old when they enlisted during the war, the age difference was quite pronounced. First Sergeant Schultz remembers that when the enlistment age was lowered to 18, the officers and NCOs felt a real obligation to ". . . these youngsters." Women Marines who served in the 1950's and early 1960's tell many anecdotes that attest to the concern of these SNCOs for the WMs junior to them. One name often mentioned was that of Master Sergeant Lucretia E. Williams, retired in 1976, a supply NCO who was known to buy items for the barracks and mess hall out of her own money. When the WMs scheduled ball games or hikes, she often arranged for cool drinks and then carried the large thermos jugs to the field herself. Colonel Hilgart remembers a time as the commanding officer of WMD-1 when a snafu held up a check meant to pay for a WM ball team trip and Master Sergeant Williams appeared at the company office with a personal check for over $200. Another woman remembered by many is Master Sergeant Catherine G. Murray who on 30 November 1962 became the first enlisted woman Marine to transfer to the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve at the completion of nearly 20 years of service. Master Sergeant Murray could be found in the barracks every Sunday morning rousing up all the Roman Catholics and driving them to Mass. Returning with one group from the early service, she gathered up more for the next one. All women with obvious Irish or Italian names were presumed Catholics and taken to church. Major Joan Collins, as an enlisted WM at Quantico, was a member of Master Sergeant Murray's "Volunteer" group that helped the nuns prepare the altar at nearby St. Francis parish in Triangle, Virginia. A Lutheran with an Irish name, she nonetheless spent three consecutive Saturdays cleaning and arranging altar cloths. Warrant Officer Eileen R. Scanlon relates another story that typifies the relationship of these women to the WM company. On a bitter cold day in January 1961, the women Marines of Henderson Hall marched in President Kennedy's inaugural parade. The women having been instructed to dress warmly, layered flannel pajamas, woolen bermuda shorts, and whatever else they could fit under their uniforms. Not able to wear boots in a parade, they wore woolen socks cut off at the top so as not to show above the oxfords. But simple advice was not enough. Before leaving the barracks, all the SNCOs went through the squadbays inspecting each woman to ensure she had carried out the instructions. Several factors have combined to change the role played by women officers and staff noncommissioned officers in the supervision and guidance of women Marines and the very personal concern evidenced in the incidents related above is now relatively rare. In the late 1960's, as a result of recommendations made by the Woman Marine Program Study Group, women SNCOs were allowed to move out of the barracks, and more officers were given permission to move off base, making them far less accessible. Attrition was much higher in the 1950's and 1960's before the change in regulations which allowed women with children to remain on active duty, thereby causing a shortage of older, mature SNCOs. Finally, the World War II WMs began to retire in 1962 and the women Marines lost this nucleus of officers and noncommissioned officers which for many years felt a special motherly responsibility to new WMs and to the success of the WM program. Barracks Marines have never disputed the philosophy that men are different from women. But even acknowledging this or expecting it in no way lessened the initial jolt to a male "old salt" the first time he set foot in a WM barracks. Women are vitally concerned with their living areas, they spend more time in their quarters, and they have needs unique to the distaff community. Colonel Streeter and her officers in World War II recognized these things early on and even in the midst of a war felt it was important to insist upon certain amenities for the women. A guest lounge became standard. One room, usually furnished with comfortable chairs, sofa, TV (later), and record player was set aside to greet and entertain male guests. The regulations regarding proper attire and behavior were quite strict: Marines, men and women, had to dress in full uniforms or comparable civilian clothing. For the women, sportswear, shorts, or slacks were definitely not considered appropriate for the guest lounge. Very often the barracks boasted a sewing room, hair dryers, refrigerators, and some cooking equipment. Adequate laundry appliances were the subject of no small number of memoranda from the Director's office. It had to be explained that women, as opposed to men, do not send personal clothing to commercial laundries and therefore needed more washing machines, dryers, and ironing boards than government specifications allowed. There was some feeling among WMs of that era that, in the end, the men's barracks had been improved and better equipped as an outgrowth of the women's insistence on nicer living conditions. Barracks life in the days of the open squadbays offered little privacy, so whenever possible, the commanding officer would set aside a "quiet room." It was a place to read, to study, to write letters, or to cry: it helped fulfill a woman's need to just be alone. For privacy's sake another distinguishing mark of the distaff barracks took hold - the fence. Discreetly, a fence hid from public view the dainty unmentionables drying on the clothes line while at the same time providing a spot for sunbathing. Where the WMs excelled at making a squadbay a home was in the decoration of their individual areas. Before the Department of Defense regulations requiring more space and privacy were published in 1973, most Marines were quartered in open squad rooms outfitted with double metal bunks, lockers, and locker boxes. Wooden dressers were a concession to the women, and normally had to be shared. Much ingenuity went into the arrangement of the furniture to form cubicles, thereby assuring a measure of privacy to the several occupants. A persuasive commanding officer could often talk the battalion commander and S-4 into pastel colored paint - a very radical innovation in the 1950's. Colored rugs, bedspreads, and towels; perfume bottles, prayer books, and photos on the dressers; and finally stuffed animals on the bunks were all privileges eventually won, but often not easily. To keep some semblance of order, the company regulations specified how many items per dresser, and how many stuffed dolls by size per bunk. [See One Stuffed Animal Per Bunk: Early in the 1950s women were issued a dresser and permitted to display one stuffed animal per bunk as shown in this photograph taken at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.] Understandably, many male Marines had a difficult time adjusting to this desecration of a barracks. Before long, however, the idea gained remarkable acceptance, and at most posts and stations the WM barracks was a mainstay on the itinerary of visiting dignitaries. Daily Routine Life on board a Marine base in 1977 would have been only vaguely familiar to the WM of 1949 or even 1959. The most obvious difference would have focused on the barracks building itself apt to be motel-like with outside entrances for each room or hotel-like with rooms opening on a long passageway. Closets and dressers would have replaced lockers and locker boxes and the metal double bunks would have become unknown items of the past. Reveille would still come too soon, but would be more likely to be announced over a public address system than by means of a bugle. WMs, until the mid-1950's, held an outdoor formation at rollcall each morning, summer and winter, in utilities. Since then rollcalls have become less and less regimented and are generally taken by an NCO with the Marines standing by in their areas. Mess halls, once furnished with long tables and benches, have become known as dining facilities and feature restaurant-style tables and chairs. Mandatory chow formations for the morning and evening meals are all but a memory since 1960. The requirement to wear a uniform to the mess hall was eased to allow civilian clothing first on weekends, then for the evening meal, and finally for all meals. In 1977, at Henderson Hall, appropriate attire for the dining facility permitted neat, but not frayed jeans and excluded only shorts, halters, tank tops, and physical training outfits. Liberty cards and liberty logs also had joined "Old Corps" lore by 1970. Before that time all Marines signed out with the barracks duty NCO, and each was closely inspected to see that he or she was properly dressed. WM company regulations generally went a step further. At most commands women Marines could not sign out on liberty after a certain time, perhaps 2130 or 2200, and liberty often expired within an hour after the service clubs closed. Cinderella liberty, as it was called, and the motherly concern of commanding officers, served to challenge the inventiveness of the women who found some ingenious ways to circumvent the rules. The WM of 1977 walked out of the barracks at will. Dressed in slacks, she did not find it necessary to prove that she was going to participate in an active sport. Shorts did not have to be covered by a modest skirt, and wearing jeans was not strictly limited to carwashing in the immediate vicinity of the barracks. She was expected to be back on time by reveille, but beyond that she was largely her own boss. Discipline Regulations regarding apprehension, arrest, restrictions, and confinement, from a technical standpoint have been equally applicable to all Marines, however, philosophical and practical consideration have dictated unequal enforcement. The differences primarily involve investigative procedures and confinement policies. Since women did not have a military obligation, there was a tacit agreement that the best interests of the Marine Corps were served by removal of habitual offenders. WMs who just could not adjust to military life, who caused mote work than they produced, and who had a negative effect on command morale and discipline were, when possible, administratively discharged. The Marine Corps expeditious discharge program, which was initiated in 1975 to improve the quality of personnel serving in the Corps, was based on much the same idea. The interrogation of women poses problems for both civilian and military police. In order to protect women from abuse and at the same time to protect the police from false accusations, authorities usually demand the attendance of a woman witness during the questioning. It had been Marine Corps policy to require on these occasions the presence of a woman officer or mature staff noncommissioned officer - senior to the woman being interrogated - who could counsel and advise the suspect. The accused could waive this privilege as long as it was done in writing and before a woman officer or her own commanding officer. For a time it was planned to train enough women investigators so that each post and station would have available a capable officer or NCO to assist the provost marshal when necessary. There was no intention to assign these women to any sort of police duty. Second Lieutenant Marjorie E. O'Hanlon and Ruth F. Reinholz were the first two women Marine officers to attend Provost Marshal General's School - Investigative Officers Course at Camp Gordon, Georgia, from 6 July to 2 September 1953. The two-month class covered surveillance techniques, photography, fingerprinting, and interrogation. The women were well trained but the idea backfired. No one, not even their best friends, trusted the new investigators, and after sending women Marines to several more classes, the project was abandoned. There always existed a reluctance to confine women, and policy prohibited the use of brigs and guardhouses for them. Those guilty of civil crimes could be sent to civilian prisons. Women who rated confinement as a result of a court martial were more apt to be restricted to the barracks and fined - a punishment that did not require posting a guard. When WM companies were routine, and if the offense was serious, women could be confined in the barracks. A number of barracks had a room set aside specifically for that purpose. It was sparsely furnished, had a door with a small window, and could be locked from the passageway. The confinement of a woman Marine in the barracks invariably affected the morale of the entire unit. Guards were posted around the clock causing many extra duty assignments for the NCOs; meals had to be brought in; and merely passing the locked door was unnerving to the others. With the disbandment of WM companies and the resultant loss of appropriate barracks, confinement posed additional problems. Punishment had not necessarily been diminished; on the contrary, policy changes have allowed a mote liberal use of civilian jails. In 1977, a woman Marine convicted by a court martial could face restriction plus a fine or detention in an approved civilian prison - depending upon the judgment of the commanding officer. Based on the number of courts martial pet total strength, the woman Marine disciplinary rate was less than one percent. Although there have been few cases, each one is disproportionately magnified due to the very rarity of occurrence and the lingering hesitancy to confine women.