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$Unique_ID{bob01119}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{(A) History Of The Women Marines 1946-1977
Chapter 9}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Stremlow, Col. Mary V.}
$Affiliation{U.S. Marine Corps Reserve}
$Subject{recruit
training
recruits
women
marine
drill
woman
battalion
platoon
first}
$Date{1986}
$Log{}
Title:       (A) History Of The Women Marines 1946-1977
Author:      Stremlow, Col. Mary V.
Affiliation: U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
Date:        1986

Chapter 9

Recruit Training

     Enlisted women Marines begin their service at the Marine Corps Recruit
Depot, Parris Island.  The women's battalion had been known, at different
times, as the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, the Woman Recruit Training
Battalion, and the Woman Recruit Training Command.  Boot camp has varied in
length from six to 10 weeks, but certain things remain unchanged.  The
schedule is rigorous; the drill instructors seem bigger than life; and for the
recruit, no matter what motivated her to enlist, on graduation day, being
called a Marine is enough.

Mission

     Woman recruit training has been designed ". . . to produce a basic woman
Marine who is able to function effectively in garrison and instinctively
practice those traits that distinguish her as a Marine."  The specific
objectives of recruit training were listed in 1976 as:

     a.  Self-discipline.  A state of discipline which assures respect for
authority; instant willing obedience to orders and the self-reliance to
maintain or improve those traits that distinguish a Marine.
     b.  Military Skills.  To teach individual proficiency in selected basic
military skills.
     c.  Physical Fitness.  The ability to maintain physical fitness,
endurance, and weight-distribution.
     d.  Military Bearing.  The ability to properly wear and maintain uniforms
and practice personal hygiene.
     e.  Esprit de Corps.  To instill the spirit of comradeship among all
Marines for each other and the Marine Corps.

Fundamentally, they differ very little from the aims set by Captain Henderson
and her staff in 1949.

The Training Program

     Originally, recruits completed a six-week course consisting of basic
military and administrative subjects.  By 1949, when the 3rd Recruit Training
Battalion was activated, Marines had become accustomed to the mature WR of
World War II who entered the Corps with certain basic skills, and it was hoped
- especially by the men - that this short course would produce a woman Marine
ready to take her place in nearly any Marine Corps office.  At first the
recruits were at least 20 years old and as a rule they had some business
experience.  After the age limit was lowered to 18 years and the requirement
of a high school diploma was dropped in 1950, a longer period of training was
deemed necessary.

     Major Beckley, Commanding Officer, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion in
1951, asked that boot camp be lengthened to eight weeks and that: instruction
in group living, character guidance, career guidance, and typing be added to
the program.  Her recommendation reflected the frustration felt by the women
Marines who had entered the service during World War II.  Confronted with a
younger recruit - probably away from home for the first time, motivated more
by a sense of adventure than a sense of patriotism, and unaccustomed to the
discipline of even a civilian job - they worried about the qualifications of
the "new breed."

     In a letter to Colonel Towle, Major Beckley described the problem of
finding suitable assignments for women with low mental scores or who had had
little career training.  Conceding that the women consistently scored higher
on intelligence tests than male recruits, nevertheless, she observed:

Male recruits who have low GCT scores can be fitted into many types of work
and prove most valuable.  Women Marines are automatically restricted in
performance of heavy manual duties.  They fill billets involving "white
collar" work where at least average ability, a neat appearance, and military
bearing are requisites.

The discovery in one platoon of three women who listed their civilian
occupations as sheepherder, gill net fisherman, and motorcyclist strengthened
her case for more careful screening and a change in recruit training.

     Colonel Towle endorsed the basic proposal, but because of her great
interest in advanced training added:

It is assumed that inclusion in the proposed revised training program of basic
typing for all recruits, as outlined . . . will not be taken as indicative
that every woman Marine is a potential typist or preclude assignment to the
Clerk Typist School in cases where such further training is considered
desirable and necessary.

The new program lengthening recruit training from six to eight weeks became
effective on 1 October 1952.

     Since that time the length of the training cycle has varied from seven to
10 weeks with three major program changes.  The first was the introduction of
a General Office Procedures Course in 19588 Essentially, at that time recruit
training was separated into two elements: six weeks of basic military
indoctrination and four weeks of administration.  During the initial military
indoctrination phase, the recruit underwent traditional training.  She then
moved her personal belongings to another barracks and, under less supervision,
completed the General Office Procedures Course.  The commanding officer,
Lieutenant Colonel Barbara J. Bishop, recommended the new program in order to
make the women more valuable to a command from the minute they reported for
duty and also to give them a chance to move gradually from the strict
supervision of recruit training into the relative freedom enjoyed by permanent
personnel.

     This latter aim emphasized one of the major problems encountered by
graduate woman recruits.  Whereas the male Marine traditionally moved from
recruit training to advanced infantry training with an attendant let-up in
supervision, the woman normally went directly from recruit to permanent
personnel status.  Oftentimes, after arrival at her new command, the period of
adjustment was as difficult for the woman's first sergeant as for the woman
herself.

     After the General Office Procedures Course was inaugurated, graduation
from boot camp was not quite the same sad, emotion-packed event that it had
been.  A simple ceremony was held on the parade ground behind the battalion
administration building, and it was followed by the move out of recruit
barracks.  The most noticeable changes for the new graduates were granting of
base liberty from 1700 to 2400 on weekdays and 1145 to 2400 on weekends,
reveille at the more civil hour of 0600, and a work day that ended at 1630.

     Chief Warrant Officer Ruth L. Wood, who had been a teacher before joining
the Marine Corps in 1943, was head of the new administrative course which
included 44 hours of typing, and classes in the Marine Corps Directive System,
business English, spelling, correspondence, publications, security of military
information, office etiquette, and the duties of a receptionist. On the small,
hand-picked staff were Technical Sergeants Lillian J. West and Eileen P.
Phelan, both former school teachers, and Technical Sergeant Grace A. Carle -
later Sergeant Major of Women Marines - who had had civilian experience as an
instruction.

     The dual training program - first boot camp and then the General Office
Procedures Course - was not entirely satisfactory in that it took a
considerable amount of administrative work to transfer the women from recruit
to student status, and more importantly, it shortened the screening and
observation time.  Since only recruits could be separated by an aptitude
board, the disposition of marginal and problem students became particularly
difficult.  Thus in 1961, Lieutenant Colonel Hill, then Commanding Officer,
Woman Recruit Training Battalion, asked that the 10-week dual program be
combined into a nine-week course of two phases, with the important proviso
that the women remain in a recruit status and under the supervision of the
recruit company staff during the entire period.

     The second major program change in Marine Corps woman recruit training
was the introduction in 1967 of the Image Development Course, part of a larger
plan to teach grooming to recruits, officer candidates, and permanent
personnel.  The decision to adopt this program was based on three premises:
first, the improvement of the woman Marine image would enhance the prestige of
the WM program in the eyes of the public and within the Marine Corp,; second,
that emphasis on the feminine aspects of a servicewoman's life would
counteract the unappealing impression of military service and therefore
improve recruitment; and finally, that heightened self confidence and poise
would reflect advantageously on the duty performance of the woman Marine.

     Lectures of this sort had always been a part of woman Marine training,
but the new approach to teaching techniques of proper makeup, hair and nail
care, wardrobe selection, posture, wig selection and care, social etiquette,
wearing the uniform, and grooming practices involved a personal program to
meet the individual's needs.  It was designed to enhance each woman's poise
and social grace.  To start the effort on a sound footing, 20 women Marines,
officer and enlisted, were trained at the Pan American World Airways
International Stewardess College.  They would serve as instructors.
Beautifully decorated, professionally outfitted grooming facilities were
installed at Quantico in 1967 and at Parris Island in 1970.

     The Image Development Course, which fluctuated from 12 to 31 hours in
length was conducted in a more relaxed manner than other phases of recruit
training and proved to be a popular addition to the schedule, particularly
from the recruits' point of view.  One of the most important parts of the
course covered the proper application and reapplication of cosmetics
throughout the day.  The recruits were inspected as before, but in addition to
the shine on the shoes, press of the uniform, and police of the barracks, they
had to be concerned with their makeup.  The natural look - appropriate makeup
for a career women - was emphasized as the proper standard.

     The finale of the course was an evaluation period held several days
before graduation.  Selected Marines, dependents, and civilians from the depot
were invited to participate at a social hour and recruits were judged on their
poise, courtesy, and appearance.  The guest list changed but traditionally
included, among others, a senior officer and his wife, several staff
noncommissioned officers - students and staff - from Recruiter's School and
the Personnel Administration School, a chaplain, and a medical officer.
Individual grades were not given, but obvious problems and weak areas were
noted and when necessary the recruit was given additional help.

     The course, as may be expected, was not wholeheartedly received at all
levels.  Generally speaking, the women drill instructors were less
enthusiastic than the recruits and the command.  Primarily they objected to
the requirement for DIs to wear makeup while on duty.  According to Sergeant
Major Judge, who was first sergeant of Recruit Company, and Master Sergeant
Bridget V. Connolly, who as a staff sergeant was a DI during the initial
stages of the program, there was some muttering in the ranks.  First Sergeant
Judge, who had never before worn eye makeup, told the commanding officer,
Lieutenant Colonel Ruth J. O'Holleran, that if her family could see her they
would call her a "hussy."  In Staff Sergeant Connolly's view, it was an added
burden on the drill instructor who had to be up, dressed, and in the recruit
barracks before 0500 to be expected to appear in full makeup.  It also meant,
of course, that she could not freshen up quickly during the day.  Despite
these difficulties, there was general agreement that the Image Development
Course improved the appearance aid poise of women Marines and achieved its
intended goals.

     The third major change in woman's recruit training involved the forming
period and occurred in 1968.  In order to give drill instructors time off to
rest themselves physically and to prepare themselves mentally to make the
transition from working with a graduate platoon to another platoon of new
recruits, the initial processing was put in the hands of other members of the
permanent personnel unit.  This team welcomed the new arrivals and supervised
the multitude of details incidental to preparing recruits for training.  Only
on the first scheduled training day did the DI meet her recruits.

     As they have for years, the majority of recruits arrived during the
night.  Under the new procedures, they were offered a snack, and shown to
their already made-up bunk.  Overhead lights were kept off to avoid disturbing
other sleeping recruits.  The latecomers were allowed to sleep to the very
last minute in the morning, getting up only in time to eat before the mess
hall secured.  While it had been proven that recruits react more quickly and
assimilate instructions better when they are less tired and less frightened,
old ways die hard, and veteran DIs believed that something was lost in the way
of initial discipline.  The forming period, while still a difficult adjustment
for civilians, was planned to instill a positive attitude toward Marine Corps
training at the onset.

Arrival at Parris Island

     These forming period procedures of 1968 bear little resemblance to those
remembered by women Marines who attended boot camp from 1949 to 1968.  In
1949, recruits arriving by train were met by the DIs at Port Royal, South
Carolina.  In later years, the terminal point of a rail trip was Yemessee,
about 26 miles from Parris Island.  Unfortunately, the most lasting impression
for many of these women arriving from northern states was the segregation of
"white" from "colored" on the train south of Baltimore and at the station at
Yemessee.  Major Joan M. Collins remembered that in 1953, on the way to boot
camp, a Puerto Rican recruit, Sunny Ramos, was separated from her group and
asked to sit in a compartment by herself.  The women protested, but the
conductor told them not to make any trouble.

     Women arriving by train were usually taken by bus along with male
recruits to the recruit depot.  If a male DI was on hand at the station he
normally succeeded in scaring the life out of the women, even if he totally
ignored them and directed all his attention at the men.  Lieutenant Colonel
Gail M. Reals remembered that she and one other woman were the only females on
board a bus driven by a civilian who amused himself all the way from Yemessee
to Parris Island asking the young women why they had done such a foolish thing
and personally guaranteeing that they would regret it.

     As a rule, the bus delivered the male recruits first and at each stop the
women witnessed the traditional brusque ceremony of the DI greeting his
recruits for the first time so that by the time they arrived at the women's
battalion, they feared the worst.

     The "worst" for the women recruits meant rush and pressure.  Most
recruits, tired and apprehensive, arrived after midnight, made up their bunks,
dropped into bed, and then awoke at 0500 with the lights blazing and the duty
NCO shouting, "Hit the deck."  For several days they were kept busy with
administrative tasks such as endorsing orders, filling out forms, and writing
their autobiography.  They received shots, a PX issue, and an initial clothing
issue - normally utilities and exercise suits.  Time was spent sewing name
tags in their clothes, hemming the utility slacks, and learning how to give a
Marine Corps shine to their oxfords.  Until black shoes were adopted in 1964,
groups of recruits were taken outdoors to dye the issue brown a darker
cordovan shade.  For many women Marines, the first "chewing out" was brought
on by spilling shoe dye on one of the new uniforms.

     Women Marines who were impressed by the "sharp" appearance of the
recruiter in her attractive dress blue uniforms were invariably let down when,
during forming, they received their clothing issue.  A hold-over from World
War II that remained in the system until 1960 was the exercise suit of tan
seersucker - a one-piece bloomer outfit with a matching buttoned front skirt
appropriately nicknamed "the peanut suit."  The World War II bib overalls,
white T-shirt, and long-sleeve jacket made up the utility uniform until the
mid-50's, but the most unpopular items, by far, were the heavy cotton lisle
hose worn by WMs in training until 1968, and the very practical oxfords.

     These shoes, with their two-inch Cuban heels were, for obvious reasons,
known as "grandmas."  In the 1950's a more modern, lower heeled oxford was
adopted for drill and certain types of work, and until the old supply stocks
ran out, each recruit was issued one pair of "grandmas" and was then taken by
bus to Mickey's Bootery in the nearby city of Beaufort to purchase the newer
shoe - which WMs naturally called "Mickeys."

     The basics of military courtesy were instilled during the forming period.
In order to give practice in saluting, recruits were required to be covered at
all times when outdoors.  For a number of years, recruits who had not yet been
issued a uniform cap were instructed to wear a civilian hat or scarf even if
only going to the clothes line behind the barracks, and so it was not uncommon
to see a WM dressed in a peanut suit, hair neatly covered by a flowered scarf,
rendering the hand salute.

The Daily Routine

     Traditionally, women recruits bounded from their bunks at 0500, ate
breakfast, policed the barracks, and prepared for morning inspection.  The
daily inspections by the drill instructors varied - that is, personnel,
barracks, locker box, or clothing rack - but always included general grooming.
Classes were scheduled until the noon meal and again from 1300 to 1700.
Evenings were devoted to studying, laundry, shoe shining, and letter writing.
Recruits also could be found practicing salutes in front of a mirror or
perfecting movements in close order drill alone or in small groups.  They were
assigned to the duty roster and took turns at standing the watch from the end
of the class day until reveille.  Classes were held until noon on Saturday.

     Liberty, for many years, was granted sparingly, and then only to recruits
visited by close family members.  In the 19705, as a result of a study of the
woman Marine program, a look at the basic training of the other services, and
in order to ease the transition from recruit status to the environment of the
first duty station, limited liberty hours were extended to all.  Women
recruits were authorized depot liberty Sundays and holidays from 1000-1500;
Saturdays and Sundays prior to graduation 1330-1930; and Thursday and Friday
of final week 1800-2000.

     On one night the routine differed from all the rest - field night.  The
evening before important inspections (which graduated weekly from the junior
drill instructor through all levels of the command up to the battalion
commander) was spent in furious activity scrubbing and shining every inch of
the barracks and neatly arranging locker boxes and clothing racks to conform
to regulations.  A clean white towel folded lengthwise in even thirds and a
clean white wash cloth folded evenly in half and centered over the towel were
displayed at the end of each bunk.  In the squadbay, bunks and locker boxes
were lined up exactly, and in the laundry, irons were arranged as precisely as
Marines in formation.  In preparing for inspections, the recruit learned a
lesson of lasting value; she learned the importance of team work, because the
platoon passed or failed as a unit.  Inspecting drill instructors and officers
had their individual methods of showing displeasure, but few were more
effective then the technique of tearing up poorly made bunks and gathering all
the gear left "adrift" and displaying it in the center of the squadbay.

     The outdoor equivalent of "field night" is the "garden party."  New
recruits who found garden party on the schedule were often genuinely
disappointed to find rakes, clippers, and lawn mowers where they expected
barbecue grills and hot dogs.  It was one of the mischievous pleasures of the
DI to shout, "Put on your peanut suits, ladies; we're going to have a garden
party."  Over the years, only the uniform changed; the garden party still
translated into clipping and trimming.

     For all of the nonstop activity of a recruit's day, it ended on a serene
and peaceful note.  A custom traced to the early 1950's was the singing of
"The Lord's Prayer" at taps.  Colonel Hamblet, when she was Director of Women
Marines, visited Parris Island and later wrote:

. . . having heard of a custom that had developed in the Woman Recruit
Company, I returned to hear taps.

The bugle notes sounded:

     Day is done
     Gone the sun
     From the lakes
     From the hills
     From the sky
     All is well
     Safely rest
     God is nigh

One by one lights in the barracks went out.  At other Marine bases a hush
would then fall.  But here as the last note of the bugle faded in the
distance, came not silence but the sound of voices in song.

They started softly in the Senior Platoon area on the second deck (floor) of
the barracks, were picked up by another platoon topside, then by the recruits
on the first deck.  The song swelled in volume as each group joined in,
filling the darkened barracks and spilling over into the street outside.

From their bunks the women recruits were singing "The Lord's Prayer".  They
sang spontaneously, their young voices, untrained and unrehearsed, blended in
reverence.  They were not required to sing.  They did so because they chose
to.  It had become their tradition, a new group learning by listening to the
others.

Recruit Regulations

     The recruit regulations published in 1949 scarcely changed over the
years.  There was a proper, established procedure for nearly every activity;
deviations from the norm, no matter how minor, were not acceptable.  A recruit
immediately learned that she did not rise before reveille nor sit on, rest on,
or get into her bunk before taps.  Bulletin boards were to be read several
times daily and she initialed every roster on which her name appeared.  She
moved quickly, but did not run in the passageways; came to attention whenever
someone other than a recruit entered the squadbay; and called "gangway" while
backing up to the bulkhead when someone other than a recruit approached.

     Only clean clothing, with all buttons buttoned, zippers zipped, and
buckles buckled could be displayed.  The one exception was a pair of untied
oxfords and the unbuttoned raincoat to facilitate a hasty exit in case of
fire.  Unauthorized personal items were stowed in the luggage room.  Keys,
clothing, cosmetics, shoe polish, or notebooks left lying about were deposited
in the "lucky box" and could be claimed only after the hapless recruit
admitted her carelessness to her DI.

     Mail call was the highlight of a recruit's day unless she received
contraband items from well meaning family and friends.  Packages were opened
in front of witnesses and any food, candy, or gum was returned to the sender,
thrown away, or donated to the Red Cross.

     Smoking was limited to designated areas at specified times; drinking beer
or hard liquor was taboo; borrowing, lending, or giving clothing away was
forbidden; and hair was rolled only at prescribed times.  Neat, clean, and
orderly was the rule.  Laundry bags were washed, bleached, starched, and
ironed frequently.  Singing in the laundry was encouraged, but talking was
prohibited.  That these seemingly irksome regulations remained virtually
unchanged for so long a time testified to their effectiveness in teaching
discipline, respect for authority, and the value of teamwork.

The Drill Instructor

     These recruits are entrusted to my care.  I will train them
     to the best of my ability.  I will develop them into smartly
     disciplined, physically fit, basically trained Marines,
     thoroughly indoctrinated in love of Corps and Country.  I will
     demand of them, and demonstrated by my own example, the highest
     standards of personal conduct, morality and professional skill.

          The Drill Instructors Pledge

     The drill instructor was the key to recruit training and was directly
responsible for the training, physical fitness, discipline, welfare, and
morale of her recruits and her junior drill instructors.  The assignment was
considered by many enlisted WMs to be the most exhausting, frustrating, yet
satisfying job in the Marine Corps.  Her role and responsibility resembled
that of the DI, but her training and the evolution of her title moved along a
different path.

     Until 1976, with one short-lived exception, women did not attend Drill
Instructor School and those involved in recruit training were officially
called platoon sergeants or platoon leaders.  WMs, themselves, unofficially
consistently used the mere familiar term of DI.

     Competent, mature, willing noncommissioned officers in excellent physical
condition and with impeccable military records were essential to the conduct
of recruit training.  Due primarily to the small number of women Marines and
proportionally fewer NCOs, and a reluctance to release women from their
primary occupational specialty for periods of two years - normal tour length
for a DI - there persisted a shortage of women DIs.  Colonel Barbara J.
Bishop, when she was Director of Women Marines, 1964-1969, tried in vain to
come to a mutually acceptable arrangement with the assignment branch at
Headquarters whereby they would notify her of the impending transfer of senior
enlisted WMs.  Then, if DIs were needed at Parris Island, Colonel Bishop
proposed to fill those vacancies on a priority basis.  Her plan met with
opposition and for many years much of the burden of training was carried by a
group of NCOs who served two and in some cases three tours of duty at the
Woman Recruit Training Battalion.

     The policy had normally been to assign a staff noncommissioned officer as
the senior, with sergeants or corporals as junior DIs, but, it was not
uncommon in the early 1950's to have lower rated women in these jobs.  The
process of selection from 1949 until 1976 was to order NCOs to the women's
recruit battalion for screening by a medical doctor, psychiatrist, the
battalion commander, the recruit company commander, and perhaps a battalion
screening board.  Having satisfactorily moved through this chain, a
prospective DI began on-the-job training and was in a probationary status for
the period of one training cycle.  Only then did she receive the coveted MOS
8511.

     With assignment of women to Drill Instructor School beginning in January
1976, certain procedures changed.  The formal course was in itself a screening
process, eliminating the need for battalion involvement; the successful
graduates were immediately assigned the drill instructor's MOS; and they were
not considered to be in a probationary status.  Furthermore, Headquarters
regularly sent two or three women to each scheduled class, taking the Director
of Women Marines out of the assignment business, and assuring a steady and
more satisfactory flow of DIs into recruit training.

     Whether or not women should attend the formal school was heatedly debated
for a number of years.  Lieutenant Colonel Elsie Hill, twice commanding
officer of the recruit battalion, believed that the school would give
uniformity to the training and arranged for five WMs to enroll at DI school in
October 1955.  The women, Sergeant Ida J. Reinemond and Corporals Marion M.
Moran, Edith M. Reeves, Dorothy Rzepny, and Lillian Hagener underwent the
prescribed course with only one concession; they did not carry a rifle during
the drill sessions.  According to Lieutenant Colonel Hill, the women did well
at school and as battalion commander, she was satisfied with their subsequent
performance as DIs, but Headquarters was evidently uneasy about a loss of
femininity and the WM image and put an end to the idea.

     The issue lay dormant for 21 years, but in January 1976, once again, five
WMs entered DI school: Sergeants Mary E. Gibbs and Jeanette M. Plourde and
Corporals Victoria Goodrich, Veda R. James, and Erlene A. Thomas.  WMs
continued to attend the course and were involved in all academic studies,
training, and drill except individual combat training and the complete
marksmanship program.  They were not required to qualify with the M-16 service
rifle or the .45 caliber pistol, but they fired them for familiarization.  At
graduation, the women graduates, in place of the traditional DI hat, were
presented with scarlet epaulets, worn by WM DIs since 1970.

     The DI was in direct control of the recruits in her platoon and
shouldered the greatest responsibility in their training.  For many years, the
senior drill instructor was required to be with her platoon at all times
during the first three weeks of training.  In the late 1960's, this requisite
was eased somewhat and her presence was necessary at key times like clothing
issue and inspections and at all periods of instruction where the recruits'
health or physical well being was involved, such as physical fitness and
swimming classes.  More routine events could be supervised by the junior drill
instructors.

     In reality, the recruit was seldom out of view of her DIs.  One of the
team was in the squadbay before reveille and again after lights out.  While
her charges slept, the DI examined the next day's schedule, made notes about
the number of required uniform changes, checked transportation arrangements,
filled out evaluation forms, and wrestled with administration matters and
personal problems of her recruits.  Like the recruit, she had to launder and
iron several uniforms and shine her shoes.  For the DI the day began at 0430
and ended well after midnight.  With rare exceptions, she was a Marine totally
committed to her task and accepted the fact that for two years, she would have
very little life of her own.  A DI of the early 1950's, Corporal Constance A.
Shafer, wrote of her tout, "A grueling pace, but it had its own reward.  At
least one of the 4 platoons I had made Honor Platoon, and the satisfaction of
seeing my hard work come to fruition made up for the loss of sleep."  Master
Sergeant Bridget Connolly and Lieutenant Colonel Gail Reals, two of Corporal
Shafer's recruits, were still on active duty in 1977.

Recruit Evaluation and Awards

     The evaluation and awards program was meant to screen recruits for
graduation as basic women Marines and to recognize outstanding performance.
The criteria used to judge the women was much the same as it was in 1949, but
a more sophisticated system of awards evolved.  Individually, recruits were
graded in three main areas: academic, performance, and attitude.  The first
was the easiest to document as it was a numerical value based on the results
of objective examinations.  Performance and attitude marks are by nature
subjective and so were derived from a composite of the entire staffs contact
with the recruit, with emphasis on inspection results, drill aptitude,
physical fitness, weight control, image development, and leadership ability.

     In one way or another, the guidon, a flag with the platoon's designation
carried by the platoon guide, had long been associated with the platoon's
performance.  New platoons normally had been identified by a bare guidon
staff.  After successful completion of specified inspection or milestone,
pennants were added with appropriate ceremony.  The gold guidon marked the
junior platoon or series, and for some time had to be earned by passing the
junior DI's inspection.  The scarlet guidon had nearly always been awarded by
the senior DI after a satisfactory formal inspection, which in 1977 was
scheduled for the third week in training.  Traditionally, poor platoon
performance was noted by the command to furl the guidon, the ultimate sign of
the DI's displeasure.

     Colorful streamers, symbols of excellence, were added to the WM guidon
staff for the first time in March 1968, when First Lieutenant Vera M. Jones,
then Recruit Company commanding officer, presented three streamers to Platoon
1-A for achievement in swimming, drill, and physical fitness.  Streamers in
1977 were presented in recognition of exceptional platoon performance in the
areas shown in the chart elsewhere on this page.

     The Marine Corps emblem, most visible outward symbol of a Marine, had
normally been given as an award rather than an unearned right to be taken for
granted.  Sometime in the 1950's the practice of issuing emblems along with
the uniforms was stopped and the recruit had to pass the Recruit Company
commander's inspection before she received the highly prized "globe and
anchor." The emblem ceremony, beginning in 1966, had become a part of the
graduation day events.  At a company formation early in the morning, each
graduate held her emblems in her gloved hand and the company commander and DIs
personally affixed them to her uniform.

     The American Spirit Honor Medal, highest available individual
distinction, was given to the recruit who displayed, to a high degree,
outstanding leadership qualities best expressing "The American Spirit" of
honor, initiative, and loyalty and who set an example in conduct and
performance of duty.  The award, consisting of a medal and certificate, was
made available by the Citizens Committee of the Army, Navy, and Air Force
through the Department of Defense.  A recruit who won the American Spirit
Honor Medal was automatically designated the Honor Graduate or Outstanding
Recruit and additionally received the Leatherneck Award and the Dress Blue
Uniform Award.

     Private Mary E. Gillespie, in October 1950, was the first woman Marine to
be awarded the American Spirit Honor Medal.  The uncommon excellence
associated with this medal was underscored by the fact that several years
could pass without a recommended recipient.

     The Honor Graduate, known in the past as the Outstanding Recruit of the
platoon, was the woman who had demonstrated the desirable attributes of a
Marine to a degree not displayed by any other member of the platoon.  The
certificate accompanying this award noted not only her academic
accomplishment, but leadership ability, integrity, honor, and loyalty.

     For many years Leatherneck magazine awarded a complete dress blue uniform
with all accessories to the outstanding male recruit of each platoon. In 1962,
the WM DIs, feeling that their recruits were slighted, looked into the matter,
and since that time, women have been included in this tradition. Private First
Class Sonia Nelson, Platoon 15-A, meritoriously promoted at graduation in
December 1962, was the first Honor Graduate to receive the Leatherneck Dress
Blue Uniform award.  Leatherneck magazine, in 1972, changed the Honor Graduate
award to a wristwatch and the Dress Blue Uniform Award was thereafter
presented by the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

     Families and friends were encouraged to attend the graduation exercises -
an event marked by pride, happiness, and tears.  Recruits laughed and cried as
they reminisced about their boot camp days, and said farewell to platoon
mates; they sang joyously; and they stepped off smartly as they marched
together for the last time.  Graduation, for the most part, included some sort
of outdoor review or drill exhibition.  For a brief time, 1960-1963, the
ceremony was held in a classroom.  On 25 September 1963, however, Platoon 11-A
began a new tradition by holding its final review on the parade field behind
building 914 in the old WM area.

WM Complex

     By 1977, where the yellow-stuccoed barracks, home of the 3rd Recruit
Training Battalion and the Women Recruit Training Battalion, once stood, only
open fields were found.  Two buildings remained.  No. 900, formerly the mess
hall, later a craft shop, and No. 903, which housed the senior series of WM
recruits.  The junior series was billeted in the WM complex, built within view
of the old area.

     Suggestions had been made to rehabilitate and air-condition the World War
II barracks, but the public works officer found that the cost would exceed 50
percent of the replacement value of the buildings.  Consequently, at a meeting
on 27 July 1967 the Depot Development Board directed that an entire new
complex for WMs be programmed at Parris Island.

     Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on 26 January 1973 and construction
was begun.  For two years the women Marines watched patiently across the
field.  Finally on 8 February 1975, they made the big move.  The new complex,
completely self-contained, was designed to house Parris Island's permanent
women personnel as well as the women recruits.  In actuality, increases in
strength of WMs resulted in the retention of the old barracks for recruits. By
the time the complex was opened, plans were already underway for an addition.

     Among the facilities included in the WM complex were a fully equipped
gymnasium, headquarters areas for the battalion and recruit company, a dining
facility, storage areas, a conference room, four classrooms, a laundromat,
clothing issue area, sickbay, tennis courts, volleyball court, and television
and telephones on each level of the three-story barracks.  The structure was
built in a square, leaving a central courtyard area open with the flagpole in
front of the battalion headquarters.  Permanent personnel enjoyed a patio with
a fountain, rooms of one to three occupants, and new, motel-like furnishings.
Beds replaced metal bunks, closets replaced lockers, and the women were
allowed to decorate their rooms with colorful bed spreads, rugs, flowers,
photographs, and other personal touches.  Recruits in 1977 still lived in
austere, albeit more modern and comfortable, squadbays.

Command Reorganized

     The Woman Recruit Training Battalion became the Woman Recruit Training
Command on 28 May 1976 when Headquarters Company was disestablished.
Consistent with Marine Corps-wide policy at the time, personnel assigned to
Headquarters Company were administratively transferred to the command under
which their work section fell, but remained billeted in the WM complex.  Thus
reorganization efforts completed a full cycle.  In February 1949 the 3rd
Recruit Training Battalion, under Captain Henderson, consisted of one company
of 50 recruits and the 15 WMs to train them.  In May 1976 Woman Recruit
Training Command, once again embodied only a recruit company, but of 300
recruits and 32 WMs to train them.