US History/US History (Bureau Development Inc.)(1991).ISO/dp/0062/00621.txt

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$Unique_ID{USH00621}
$Pretitle{65}
$Title{A History of the Women Marines 1946-1977
Chapter 7   Utilization and Numbers:  Snell Committee, 1973-1977}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Stremlow, Col. Mary V.}
$Affiliation{USMC}
$Subject{women
marine
first
corps
marines
woman
officer
lieutenant
sergeant
colonel}
$Volume{}
$Date{1986}
$Log{}
Book:        A History of the Women Marines 1946-1977
Author:      Stremlow, Col. Mary V.
Affiliation: USMC
Date:        1986

Chapter 7   Utilization and Numbers:  Snell Committee, 1973-1977

     There was, in the early 1970's, an increased awareness of the phenomenon
called equal opportunity for women.  It permeated the family, the schoolroom,
business, religion, and the military.  In all fairness, laws, customs, and
prejudices notwithstanding, a case can be made for the advantageous position
of servicewomen compared to women in education, business, and industry.  There
were, however, recognized shortcomings which had to be dealt with.  The advent
of the all-volunteer force and the national women's liberation movement were
leading to increased use of women in the military.  On 1 September 1972, the
Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., recommended a plan
tailored to meet a goal stated as "allowing women an equal opportunity to
contribute their talents and to achieve full professional status in the Navy."
The Marine Corps had no such plan.

     One week later, the Secretary of Defense, Melvin R. Bird, directed the
services to develop by 30 November 1972 detailed equal opportunity/affirmative
action plans for minorities and servicewomen.  As a result, the Deputy Chief
of Staff (Manpower) of the Marine Corps, Lieutenant General Ormond R. Simpson,
proposed an ad hoc committee to be chaired by Colonel Albert W. Snell.  The
committee was tasked with developing a plan of action, objectives, and
milestones for a program to increase equal opportunity for women Marines.

     The membership of Colonel Snell's committee varied from time to time but
included representatives of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-1; Deputy Director
of Personnel; Director Division of Reserve; and Director Women Marines.
Included were Lieutenant Colonel Jenny Wrenn and Major Barbara E. Dolyak.  At
the initial, formal meetings, the committee established the goal to "increase
the effectiveness and utilization for all women Marines to fully utilize their
abilities in support of Marine Corps objectives."  Five specific objectives
identified to accomplish the goal were:

     a.  To identify and eliminate all discrimination based solely on sex.
     b.  To ensure to women Marines equal opportunity for assignment to and
within noncombat occupational fields.
     c.  To provide the opportunity for women Marines to obtain technical and
professional schooling at all levels.
     d.  To provide equal opportunity to women Marines for progression and
advancement through duty assignments.
     e.  To ensure equal economic opportunity for women Marines.

     It happened that the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Manpower and Reserve Affairs) Central All-Volunteer Task Force on the
Utilization of Military Women, headed by Colonel Helen A. Wilson, USMCR,
published a separate but related study in December 1972.  This report
specifically recommended that the Marine Corps:

(1) Intensify its recruiting efforts for enlisted women.
(2) Open additional job specialties to women.
(3) Take action to reduce attrition rates to a level more comparable to that
    being experienced by the other services.
(4) Advise after six months the results achieved in (1), (2), and (3) above
    and how these results affect its FY 1974 plans for female military
    strength in Marine Corps.

     A further consideration by the Snell Committee was the report of a task
group chaired by the Judge Advocate General of the Navy to review the portion
of Titles 10 and 37 of the United States Code which differentiated between the
treatment of men and women.

     Taking all into consideration, the Snell Committee identified 17 separate
tasks needed to attain its objectives.  A background position paper containing
the 17 tasks was then staffed to appropriate Headquarters agencies for
comment.  Colonel Margaret A. Brewer was given the job of reviewing the
comments, summarizing the recommendations, and making appropriate
modifications.

     The recommendations that evolved included several concerning promotion
boards that would require legislative action.  Most, however, challenged the
Marine Corps' policies and regulations that barred women from occupational
fields or schools based solely on sex.  The fields of logistics, military
police and corrections, and aircraft maintenance, all closed to women, were
singled out as possibilities for immediate action while all other noncombat
fields would be studied to determine their appropriateness for women Marines.
Two of the most unorthodox ideas presented were the plan that a pilot program
be established to assign women to stateside Fleet Marine Forces and the
recommendation that:

. . . the prohibition in the Marine Corps Manual which limits women
officers to succeeding to command only at those activities which have the
administration of Women Marines as their primary function be eliminated.

     According to Lieutenant Colonel Barbara Dolyak, a member of the Snell
Committee, it came as a surprise when the Commandant approved all
recommendations on 14 November 1973.  On the final page of the report, General
Robert E. Cushman, Jr., penned, "O.K. - let's move out."

Strength, 1973-1977

     In April 1973 a goal was set of 3,100 women Marines by 30 June 1977. This
represented a 30 percent increase of women's strength and completely
disregarded the traditional figure of one percent of total Marine Corps
enlisted strength.  Subsequently, the target date was moved up to 1 January
1976.  During the summer of 1976, the Commandant, General Louis H. Wilson,
Jr., responding to requests from commanders for additional women, to the
improved effectiveness of women in the Corps, and to the realities of the all
volunteer force, approved an additional increase in the size of the woman
Marine force.  The change was planned to be implemented over a six-year period
beginning 1 October 1976, with a recruiting goal for the year of 1,700 women
or 164 over the current annual input.  Beginning with fiscal year 1978, in
October 1977 the Corps aimed to recruit 2,500 women annually. Then in March
1977, appearing before a House Armed Services subcommittee, General Wilson
made the surprise announcement that the Marine Corps expected to have 10,000
women in its ranks by 1985.  Incremental increases were planned based on
logistical limitations related to uniform supplies and billeting space rather
than on need or availability of qualified applicants.  In 1975 18 percent of
all women who enlisted in the Marine Corps had attended college and some had
baccalaureate degrees.  In 1977, both recruiting and officer procurement
quotas were easily met with many fine young women being turned away.  On 30
June 1977, the strength of the active duty women Marines was 407 officers and
3,423 enlisted women for a total of 3,830.

     The reenlistment and retention rate for women improved to the point where
in 1974, the rate of retention for first-term WMs bettered that of male
Marines 9.9 percent to 7.9 percent.  In 1975, it was 10.4 percent for women
compared to 7.9 percent for the total Marine Corps.  No one factor is
responsible for the improved recruiting and retention of women.  The
indications point to a generation of women awakened to new horizons,
improvements in the woman Marine program brought on by the Pepper Board and
the Snell Committee, and the positive action taken by the Commandants to
publicize to all Marines the role of women in the Marine Corps.

New Occupational Fields

     The Snell Committee had recommended that the Marine Corps regulations and
policies not governed by law be reviewed to revise or eliminate those which
discriminated solely on the basis of sex without rational and valid reason,
and that all noncombat MOSs be examined to determine which could be made
available to women.  Since a task analysis of all noncombat occupational
fields was already underway at Headquarters and would not be completed for
several years, it was further recommended that certain fields be opened
immediately as a sign of good faith.  For officers, logistics, military police
and corrections, and aircraft maintenance were suggested, and for enlisted
women, the same three fields plus utilities and electronics.  Because of some
disagreement and in view of the ongoing study of all noncombat MOSs, only
logistics and military police and corrections were approved for officers and
utilities and military police and corrections for enlisted women.

     The final breakthrough, dropping all barriers except those grounded in
law, was made on 15 July 1975 when the Commandant, General Wilson, approved
the assignment of women to all occupational fields except the four considered
combat-related, infantry (03), artillery (08), armor (18), and flight crews
(75).  Management limitations, preservation of a rotation base for male
Marines, equal opportunity regardless of sex for job assignments and
promotions, need for adequate facilities and housing for WMs, and availability
of nondeployable billets, of necessity, affected the number of women assigned
to some fields, but this was truly a decisive change.

Military Police

     Records indicate that there were five women with a military police MOS in
1952 but a search of the records failed to reveal who they were or what duties
they performed.  It is likely that they were former WRs since the policy after
1948 had been not to assign women to this field.

     The Corps' first known post-World War II military policewoman, in January
1974, was Lance Corporal Harriett F. Voisine, a WM who had a bachelor of
science degree in criminology with a major in police science and
administration.  She had worked with the Police Department in Westminster,
California, before enlisting in July 1971 and, after recruit training, served
for two and one-half years in the Provost Marshal Office at Parris Island.
Taking courses on her own in juvenile delinquency; vice and narcotics;
criminal law; and arrest, search, and seizure procedures, she was a natural
candidate for the military police field when it was finally opened to women
Marines Lance Corporal Voisine, given on-the-job training by the recruit
depot's MPs, was used on the desk, on traffic control details, and on
motorized patrols.

     Two women Marines, Privates M. B. Ogborn and J. E. Welchel, were the
first to attend the seven-week Military Police School at Fort Gordon, Georgia,
graduating in April 1975.  Private Mary F. Bungcayo, who graduated from the
same course the following month was assigned to the Marine Corps Air Station,
Cherry Point, for duty.  In a 1977 interview, Corporal Bungcayo stated that
she met some male opposition at first, but no restrictions.  She worked on the
desk and on patrol; she responded to fires and flight emergencies; and she
stood guard on the gate.  Corporal Bungcayo, who joined the Marine Corps with
the guarantee of military police work, believed that on the job she was given
the same responsibilities as the male MPs.

     Second Lieutenant Debra J. Baughman, the first woman officer in the
military police field, was assigned to the Provost Marshal Office at Camp
Lejeune after graduation from the 35th Woman Officer Basic Course in March
1975.  She entered the field with a degree in corrections but no experience.
At Camp Lejeune she was assigned as platoon leader for a platoon of MPs and in
the opinion of Colonel Valeria F. Hilgart, the base G-1, "She did a topnotch
job."

     The next two officers to enter the 5800 field, military police, were
Second Lieutenants Mary A. Krusa and Judith A. Cataldo.  Neither had any
police experience but both had majored in criminology and the police science
field in college.  In January 1976 all three attended the Military Police
Officer Orientation Course at Fort McClellan, Alabama, to obtain formally the
5803 MOS.  After graduation in February 1976, Second Lieutenant Krusa reported
to El Toro as the assistant operations officer for the Provost Marshal Office
and Second Lieutenant Cataldo reported to Cherry Point for assignment as the
officer in charge of the Traffic Investigation, Traffic Control, and Pass and
Identification Section.  Second Lieutenant Baughman returned to Camp Lejeune.
Each of the three officers had received more extensive training in their MOS
to include attendance at Northwestern University's Traffic Institute at
Evanston, Illinois.

     On the subject of police work for women, Second Lieutenant Cataldo, in
March 1977, wrote:

Speaking for myself, I love the field.  It is a constantly changing challenge.
Twenty-five male MPs work for me and I am given a great deal of
responsibility.  I feel that after the initial testing and proving period I
have been fully accepted.  I would recommend the field to other women trained
in it as it is still growing and developing professionally . . . .  It
frequently demands 24 hour duty (PMO duty officer) five days per month and
proficiency with various weapons . . . .  For women interested in the police
field it offers a great deal.

Presiding Judges

     There were seldom more than one or two women Marine lawyers on active
duty at one time, and it was news when in 1970, First Lieutenant Patricia
Murphy was named a certified military judge.  But in 1974, it was Captain
Eileen M. Albertson, second woman to be certified a military judge, who became
the first to preside in a courtroom.  A graduate of Bloomsburg State College
and the Marshall Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary, she
served in the Marine Corps Reserve for a six-year tour before going on active
duty.  She served nine months in Judge Advocate General School for military
lawyers at Charlottesville, Virginia; 14 months on Okinawa as prosecutor and
foreign claims commissioner; and some months as defense counsel at Quantico.

     As a judge, Captain Albertson was praised by her colleague, Captain David
A. Schneider, who said, "I would give her the highest compliment - I'd call
her a professional.  She shows that she is more interested in justice and
fairness than formality or speed . . . ."  Her former commanding officer,
Colonel Joseph R. Motelewski, commented bluntly, "She is one of the finest
lawyers I've ever worked with."

     In an effort to attract persons of needed skills, the Marine Corps
inaugurated a program of direct Reserve commissions for those who met the
criteria. Reserve Marine Major Sara J. Harper, a judge of the Municipal Court
of Cleveland, Ohio, entered the Corps as a lawyer and served a number of tours
on active duty over a four-year period.  Then in 1977, she was appointed a
military judge by General Louis H. Wilson, in ceremonies in his office.

Breaking the Tradition

     Improved educational level of women recruits, a changed attitude of
society toward the role of working women, especially in technical and
professional fields, and an open mindedness in the Corps brought on by the
Pepper Board and fostered by the Snell Committee, and finally the Commandant's
key decision in July 1975, combined to increase the assignments of women to a
greater variety of occupational fields.  For example:

     In November 1973, Second Lieutenant Patricia M. Zaudtke was assigned as
one of the first two WM motor transport officers.

     In June 1974, Captain Shirley L. Bowen was the only woman and the first
woman Marine to graduate from the 34-week Advanced Communication Officer
Course.

     Private Mary P. McKeown made history at the Army's Ordnance Center and
School, Aberdeen, Maryland, when she became the first WM to attend the Metal
Body Repair Course.  Her classroom instruction included practical work in gas
welding, exterior finishing of metal bodies, glass cutting, and instruction in
inert gas metal welding techniques.

     First Lieutenant Dian S. George, in 1975, was the first woman Marine to
be assigned to the inspector-instructor staff of an all-male Reserve unit,
Headquarters and Service Company, Supply Battalion, 4th Force Service Support
Group, at Newport News, Virginia.  Previously she had served as the assistant
SASSY officer at Cherry Point, North Carolina.  SASSY is the acronym for
Supported Activity Supply System, which was, at the time, a new computerized
way of keeping track of all Marine Corps equipment.  Thus it was not merely
coincidental that First Lieutenant George found herself at the Newport News
unit, the first Reserve company to have the SASSY system, one which tied into
the computer at Camp Lejeune.  During drill weekend she worked on the
organization and supervision of the training program which included computer
programming and key punch operations skills.  In addition she served as
personnel, public relations, and recruiting officer on the staff headed by
Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Esposito.  For the lieutenant, being in an
all-male outfit was not entirely new since she had participated in the 1974
pilot program permitting women to serve in the Fleet Marine Forces.

     Private First Class Cathy E. Smith was the first woman Marine to attend
the Water Supply and Plumbing Course at Camp Lejeune.  The training which
began on 14 July 1975 was concerned mainly with water purification, i.e.,
supplying fresh water to Marines in the field.

     On 28 January 1977, Sergeant Deborah A. Rubel, a mechanic in the fuel and
electrical shop, Motor Transport and Maintenance Company, 2nd Maintenance
Battalion, Force Troops, 2nd Force Service Support Group, was named Force
Troops 2nd FSSG Marine of the Quarter, high praise for a woman serving in the
FMF in a nontraditional job.

     Second Lieutenant Jo Anne Kelly became, in January 1977, the first of
four women in her occupational field to qualify for the 7210 MOS, Air Defense
Control Officer.  She finished initial training at Twentynine Palms in August
1976 and then reported to the Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, where she
completed the required number of live intercepts in tactical flight missions.

     On 9 January 1977, three WMs, Sergeants Connie Dehart and Cynthia Martin,
and Corporal Geneva Jones, were reported to be the first women to earn their
wings while serving as flight attendants on the C-9B Skytrain. After a
two-week familiarization course at the McDonnell Douglas School, the women's
duties included loading baggage and cargo, and serving meals. In an interview
in March 1977, Sergeant Jones indicated that there was no resentment shown by
male Marines with whom she worked, but at least one lieutenant colonel was
uncomfortable about her work as he ordered her out of the cargo compartment
and loaded his own baggage.

     Private First Class Pamela Loper, the first woman Marine to hold a
tractor-trailer license at Camp Lejeune since World War II, was described in
April 1977 by Lieutenant Colonel John F. Drummond, base motor transport
officer, as ". . . a much better driver than some of our experienced men."
Private First Class Loper drove a large tractor-trailer rig, known as a "semi"
or "18 wheeler."  She obtained her license after passing tests on handling the
vehicle and hooking up and unhooking the trailer.

     Private First Class Katie Jones Dixon, Headquarters and Maintenance
Squadron-32's first WM jet mechanic, worked on jet engines and components
which MAG-32's squadrons sent to its power plant for repair.  Extensive
schooling prepared her to do the type of intermediate maintenance that the
squadrons were not authorized to perform.

     Private First Class Gail Faith Morise, first enlisted woman to attend the
12-week Automotive Mechanics School at Camp Lejeune, was also the first WM to
be assigned to Cherry Point's Motor Transport Division.

Bandsmen

     Well before the final verdict was in on opening new occupational fields
to women, an old one became available once more.  Until 1973, the musical MOS
5500 was designated for wartime duty only.  Women Marine bandsmen were a rare
sight after the demobilization of Camp Lejeune's renowned MCWR band of World
War II.  In 1967, Colonel Bishop reported that Corporals Donna L. Correll and
Marjorie W. Groht had joined the Marine Corps Supply Center band at Albany and
played in ceremonies on 10 November.  These two Marines, members of the first
group of WMs to report to Albany, played the clarinet and trumpet and were
believed to be the only women performing with a Marine band at the time.  In
1969, Lance Corporal Judy A. Tiffany volunteered on apart time basis as a
cymbal player with the newly formed Drum and Bugle Team at the Marine
Barracks, Treasure Island, California.  And then, in 1971, five WMs, Corporals
Sue Redding and Nancy Wright, Lance Corporals Sue Deleskiewicz and Joan
Mahaffey, and Private First Class Martha Eveland became the first WM musical
unit since World War II when they formed the WM Drum Section of Treasure
Island's Drum and Bugle Team.

     Private Jay C. Clark was assigned the 5500 MOS in February 1973 while in
recruit training at Parris Island.  She was assigned to the post band and
later sent to Basic Music School in Little Creek, Virginia.  Upon completion
of the six-month course, she served in the bands in Hawaii and at the Recruit
Depot at San Diego, California.

     The famed U.S. Marine Band of Washington, D.C, however, remained an
all-male bastion until 1973, when, due to a critical shortage of certain
instrumentalists, the band sought and received permission to enlist women.
Elizabeth A. Eitel, an oboist and University of Montana student, became, in
April 1973, the first woman to audition and to be accepted. Before she
graduated and subsequently enlisted on 30 July, another young woman, Ruth S.
Johnson, a University of Michigan graduate, joined the band on 16 May,
becoming its first woman member.  Like all members of the band, the women were
appointed to the rank of staff sergeant and were not required to attend
recruit training.  Gunnery Sergeant Johnson, in 1977, was the Marine Band's
principal French hornist.

     At first there were several conditions imposed by the band.  The women,
for example, were to wear the male bandsmen uniforms.  Colonel Margaret A.
Brewer, Director of Women Marines, satisfied that this new opportunity was
available to women, prudently offered no opposition.  It was soon obvious that
the men's trousers were ill-fitting and difficult to tailor for the women, so
new uniforms, following the traditional pattern but proportioned for the
female figure, were designed.  Eventually long skirts were added to the
wardrobe.  The WM hat posed some problems, especially in wet weather as it
required careful blocking to keep in shape.  The band had a white vinyl model
designed and asked Colonel Brewer for her opinion.  With its gold emblem, red
cap cord, and semi-shiny fabric, she found it unattractive at first, but
agreed to a test period.  The vinyl hat not only looked fine when worn during
performances, but it solved the maintenance problem. Recognizing the
practicality of a hat that can withstand rain and snow the white vinyl was
later copied for use by women MPs.

     By July 1977, the Marine Band counted in its ranks the following 10 women
musicians:

Gunnery Sergeant Gail A. Bowlin  .  .  .  .       flute
Gunnery Sergeant Elizabeth A. Eitel .  .  .        oboe
Staff Sergeant Elnora Teopaco Figueroa .  .      violin
Staff Sergeant Michelle Foley .  .  .  .  .        oboe
Gunnery Sergeant Carol Hayes  .  .  .  .  .       viola
Gunnery Sergeant Ruth S. Johnson .  .  .  . French horn
Staff Sergeant Denna S. Purdie.  .  .  .  .       cello
Staff Sergeant Linda D. Stolarchyk  .  .  .       cello
Staff Sergeant Vickie J. Yanics  .  .  .  .      violin
Staff Sergeant Dyane Wright.  .  .  .  .  .     bassoon

Women Marines in the Fleet Marine Force

     The Snell Committee recommended that a pilot program be established to
assign women to stateside division, wing, or force service regiment
headquarters in noncombat rear echelon billets such as disbursing, data
systems, administration, etc.  General Cushman, Commandant of the Marine
Corps, approved the concept on 14 November 1973.  In February 1974, a message
was sent to FMF commanders notifying them of a yet-to-be published change in
policy which would permit the assignment of women to FMF billets involving
service support, aviation support, or communication occupational specialties
that would not require them to deploy with the assault echelon of the command
if a contingency arose.  The legal restrictions that women not be assigned
duty in aircraft that are engaged in combat missions nor on vessels of the
Navy other than hospital ships and transports were included.

     The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and the 1st Marine Division were designated
as the commands to participate in a six-month pilot program, and they were
provided information on the grade and MOSs of the women selected for FMF
assignments.  The message stated, "These Marines will be joined on the rolls
of, and administered by, the headquarters indicated.  Their duties will be
consistent with the requirement of the billet to which assigned."  This simple
statement, referring to Marines without the usual modifier, women, bespoke an
important change in attitude.  As an adjunct to the pilot program, all FMF
commanders were asked to identify billets within their headquarters considered
suitable for women Marines.

     Originally, 13 women were selected to take part in the experiment: seven
to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and six to the 1st Marine Division. Actually,
nine WMs, four officers and five enlisted women, were assigned to the wing.
They were:

First Lieutenant Maralee J. Johnson
First Lieutenant Dian S. George
Second Lieutenant Vicki B. Taylor
Second Lieutenant Margaret A. Humphrey
Gunnery Sergeant Sharyl E. Sheftz
Sergeant Charlene K. Wiese
Corporal Pamela S. Scott Corporal Eva J. Lugo
Lance Corporal Marsha A. Douglas

     In an interview published in the Windsock, the Cherry Point newspaper, in
July 1974, Corporal Scott said, "At first I heard there might be some problems
because men didn't want women in the Wing, but everyone here has been helpful,
and I haven't had any problem at all."  Sergeant Wiese, accounting analyst
with the comptroller section, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing said, "There was a lot
of apprehension between myself and the Marine I was working with, but it's
gone now and things are great."  Others commented on the changes brought by
being administratively attached to the wing rather than Woman Marine
Detachment 2, a small unit where everyone knew everyone else.

     The six women assigned to the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton were
Captain Karyl L. Moesel, First Lieutenant Maria T. Hernandez, Second
Lieutenant Mary S. Burns, Gunnery Sergeant Esther F. Peters, Sergeant Judith
A. Alexander, and Sergeant Lynn J. Powell.

     At the end of the six-month experimental period, in November 1974, the
Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division, Brigadier General William L.
McCulloch, reported that, ". . . the WMs have managed to assimilate necessary
knowledge of FMF peculiar systems to allow them to be assets to their
respective sections" and, he continued:

It is this command's interpretation . . . that WMs assigned to FMF commands
are deployable to advanced areas as long as they are not deployed with assault
echelon . . . and are, therefore, not necessarily bound to rear echelon . . .
billets . . . .  This command enthusiastically supports assignments of WMs to
CONUS FMF commands and foresees no insurmountable problems associated with
program.  Assignment of WMs would provide source of talent and critical skills
and would ease skill shortages within the First MARDIV.

     The Commanding General, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Major General Ralph H.
Spanjet, in his assessment of the pilot program, noted that the nine WMs were
rapidly assimilated into the wing staff, and no problems were observed in
military courtesy, appearance, or bearing.  The physical fitness testing had
been conducted by the senior woman officer without difficulty and with notable
success.  He continued that the small number involved precluded any effect on
deployment and during field exercises, the women Marines had a positive effect
on the headquarters by remaining in garrison and continuing the daily
administrative routine.  Finally, he submitted:

The pilot program of assigning Women Marines to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing has
thus far been successful in terms of orientation, capability, and performance.
Realizing the practicality of assigning Woman Marines to CONUS Fleet Marine
Force Commands, it is felt that the program should be continued.

     The commanding general of FMFPac, on the subject of women in ConUS FMF
commands, wrote: "This headquarters regards utilization of women Marines in
FMF commands both feasible and desirable providing such assignment does not
adversely affect combat readiness . . . . " And he offered the recommendation
that:

. . . Marine Corps education and training programs be modified to:

1.  Increase emphasis on FMF-related instruction and training for women
Marines, to include extension school courses and, if possible additional
quotas to intermediate and high level schools.

2.  Incorporate into Human Relations and leadership training consideration of
the role of women Marines in the FME.

     As part of the pilot program, the commanders of the division, aircraft
wings, force troops, and force service regiments identified rear echelon
billets totaling 75 officer and 450 enlisted that could be filled by women
without requiring them to deploy with the assault echelon.  The billets
included supply, disbursing, communications, intelligence, administration,
data systems, and legal specialties.  When new MOSs were opened to women by
the 1975 decision, even more FMF billets were considered suitable for women
Marines.

     Women in the 1st Marine Division were featured in an article published in
the Los Angeles Times in September 1976.  Among those mentioned were Second
Lieutenant Michelle D. Venne, combat engineer officer, who was the first woman
officer to attend Combat Engineer School and finished first in her class;
Lance Corporal Victoria Carrillo, a plumber and water supplyman who, at the
time, was the only woman water purification expert in the Marine Corps; Second
Lieutenant Carol Sue Lamb, the only female motor transport officer in the FME
who was serving as assistant division motor transport officer and later served
as a division supply group platoon commander; Corporal Cynthia Robinson, an
electrician, who performed duties such as pole line construction and the
stringing of power lines; Second Lieutenant Laura A. Hull, headquarters
battalion adjutant; and Lance Corporal Kimberly Greene, only woman coxswain in
the Marine Corps.  Lance Corporal Greene, who grew up on Narragansett Bay in
Rhode Island, practiced her seamanship in the Corps by handling a 58-foot
landing craft which could carry up to 40 combat-loaded Marines for an assault
on an enemy beach.

     There were at the time, 42 women in the 1st Marine Division, and their
commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Robert D. White, confessed that while
the obvious problems such as restroom facilities and billeting were
nettlesome, they were not difficult.  The women Marines lived in motel-like
BEQs with their male colleagues, since it was thought that segregated barracks
would run counter to unit integrity.

     The men found that women tend to keep their quarters better policed, but
Colonel White soon learned that:

. . . there is a greater sense of urgency from the women when equipment,
such as washing machines, fails.  The women seem to be more conscious of how
they look in uniform . . . and when it comes to wearing sidearms which might
make a hippy woman look hippier, an option of uniform is allowed. They can
wear either skirts or utility outfits.

     Anticipated problems resulting from men and women living in the same
barracks did not materialize as the division men seemed to take a protective
attitude toward the WMs.  Barracks and office language was noticeably
improved, but the feminine presence apparently caused little resentment on
that score, since Lieutenant Colonel White was quoted as saying, "The division
is more fun with the girls."

     The women unanimously endorsed FMF assignments for WMs. Lance Corporal
Debora Pederson, a correspondence clerk in the headquarters battalion
adjutant's office, said, ". . . at Pendleton, we are treated as Marines, not
specified as women Marines."  First Lieutenant Venne found senior officers
dubious when she was assigned as a division engineer, responsible for
equipment used in bridge building, grading roads, and other construction
projects associated with combat.  But the skepticism was because she was a
lieutenant and not because she was a woman.

     In July 1977, there were 610 women Marines serving in the FMF 96 officers
and 514 enlisted women.  The policy to assign them only to stateside
organizations was still in effect, but individual exceptions had been made
where FMF commanders overseas had specifically asked for women Marines.

Women in Command

     The Marine Corps Manual, from 1948 until 1973, laid down the rule that
women could command only those units that were predominantly female.  At least
one exception was made when Captain Jeanne Fleming was assigned as the
commanding officer of Company B, Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Schools,
Quantico, from July 1956 until September 1958.  The company consisted of all
officer students at Quantico, less those attending The Basic School. Her
duties were primarily administrative, but it was quite unusual, nevertheless,
for men to report in and find a woman commanding officer.  One of them was
Major Albert W. Snell, later to head the Ad Hoc Committee in 1973.

     After approving the Snell Committee recommendation that women be
permitted to command units other than woman Marine companies, General Cushman
announced the new policy at a press conference in southern California in
December 1973.  He added, as a side comment, that, indeed, Camp Pendleton was
soon to make such an assignment.  According to the woman destined to become
the Marine Corps' first woman commander of a nearly all male battalion,
Colonel Mary E. Bane, the general's pronouncement was news to the command at
Camp Pendleton.  The press picked up on the Commandant's statement immediately
and all other topics of his news conference were forgotten.

     Colonel Bane, who had been filling a colonel's billet as an assistant
chief of staff for personnel services, was informed by the Assistant Chief of
Staff (Manpower), "You have been selected to sacrifice, Evie."  The day
following the Commandant's announcement, the commanding general, Brigadier
General Robert L. Nichols, named Colonel Bane to be Commanding Officer,
Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton,
California.  The furor was astonishing.  In less than 24 hours, she had to
change her telephone to an unlisted number.  She had spent a sleepless night
answering calls from the media, women's liberation organizations, cranks, and
friends.  In a short time she received over 300 letters, both congratulatory
and abusive.  There were requests for autographed photographs and an
80-year-old retired Navy chief petty officer wrote to General Earl E.
Anderson, Assistant Commandant, and asked for a set of Colonel Bane's first
lieutenant bars.  Mail came from Germany, Vietnam, Korea, and the Philippines,
and from such diverse sources as the American Nazi Party and the National
Organization of Women.  In fact, the letters continued to arrive two years
after she left the command.

     Headquarters and Service Battalion was a unit of 1,700 Marines, including
a woman Marine company.  Colonel Bane's immediate staff the executive officer,
Lieutenant Colonel Robert W. Topping, and the battalion sergeant major, were
all very supportive.  She, herself felt unprepared for the billet and resented
being assigned because of sex rather than qualifications.  In due time the
commotion subsided, and business at the battalion went on as usual.  Eleven
months later, Brigadier General Paul Graham assumed command of Marine Corps
Base, Camp Pendleton, and reassigned Colonel Bane for, in her words, ". . .
precisely the same reason for which I was assigned - because I was a woman."
He just did not want a woman as the commanding officer of a headquarters
battalion.  In fact, he did not want a woman in a colonel's billet and Colonel
Bane, who had held the responsible position of an assistant chief of staff and
had been a battalion commander for 11 months, was reassigned as the base human
affairs officer, a major's billet.

     When Captain Kathleen V. Abbott Ables took command of Supply Company,
Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Base, Twentynine Palms,
California, on 7 March 1975, there was none of the hoopla that accompanied
Colonel Bane's appointment.  It was, just the same, an historic event, a woman
in command of a predominantly male company.  Looking back, Major Ables was not
certain what prompted the battalion commander to assign a woman to the job.
The billet was open, and she was the next senior captain in the battalion. She
wrote, "The prevailing attitude was that it was my job as a captain, and that
I could and would handle it professionally."

     The company first sergeant, Gayle R. Heitman, made it known to the NCOs
and SNCOs that he had worked with Captain Ables before and their expressed
fears were unfounded.  Only the company clerk, a sergeant, had real difficulty
accepting a woman commanding officer, and he went to the battalion commander
several times, in vain, to ask for a transfer.

     In the beginning, as might be expected, inspections were the cause of
some concern.  Personnel inspections had been held without weapons at Supply
Company so that when Captain Ables arrived on the scene she merely had to
learn the details of male uniform regulations and personal appearance
standards.  As for quarters inspections, it was not difficult to respect the
privacy of Marine shift workers who were apt to be sleeping or relaxing in the
barracks during the day since the battalion was billeted in motel-style rooms
rather than in open squadbays.  First Sergeant Heitman would knock and if
there was no answer, he would unlock the door and go in.  If the room was
empty, Captain Ables followed him in to inspect.  The procedure was reversed
in the women's BEQ.  Male Marines learned something about a woman's idea of a
clean barracks.  In a 1977 letter, Major Ables wrote:

BEQ inspections caused some heartburn in the company for about a month after I
became commanding officer.  With two of us inspecting, a large number of
previously undetected discrepancies were found.  One morning, we arrived at
one room to find one of the occupants leaning over a table with a cloth in his
hand.  I made some comment about making the final touchup, and he replied,
"Yes, ma'am.  We hear you're a real stickler on dust."

     Nonjudicial punishment is always unpleasant but with a woman commanding
officer could be awkward as well, depending upon the nature of the offense.
One case involved language that neither the accused nor the witnesses wanted
to use in front of a lady.  A relatively simple solution was found: the
offending statement was written out and all parties read and signed it.

     Five months after taking over Supply Company, Captain Ables was assigned
as commanding officer of her second and larger nearly all-male company,
Headquarters Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion, which consisted of
about 330 men and 40 women.  Again, the first sergeant, Gene A. Lafond, was a
key to a successful tout.  Integrated battalions and companies such as this
one gave rise to some interesting adjustments, notably in the area of physical
training.  In this instance, the battalion organized a competitive seven-mile
conditioning hike.  The course included a climb over hills behind the main
camp, but because the WMs did not have adequate boots for the cross-country
portion, a seven-mile road march was planned for them to be lead by Captain
Ables.  The battalion commander had arranged to take her company himself.  The
women's platoons from each company were combined to form a single WM unit and
scheduled to hike on the day before Captain Ables' Headquarters Company.

     Having finished her portion of training, Captain Ables was challenged by
her husband, Major Charles K. Ables, to lead her own company the next day. She
admitted that it was a struggle to run-walk to keep from straggling.  It
happened that she was not only not the last to complete the course, but she
helped to push a Marine over the finish line, and Headquarters Company won the
competition.  Afterwards, it was decided that company hikes would be conducted
with men and women participating together, maintaining unit integrity.

     An interesting aspect of Captain Ables' experience as a commanding
officer is the fact that her husband was a member of her command, no doubt a
unique situation in Marine Corps history.

     In addition to the command tours of Colonel Bane and Captain Ables, other
assignments evidenced some change in philosophy and policy.  In 1974,
Lieutenant Colonel Annie M. Trowsdale was assigned as executive officer of
Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, and
Sergeant Major Eleanor L. Judge was named sergeant major of Headquarters and
Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point.  Gunnery
Sergeant Frances Gonzales, in 1975, became the first sergeant of Casual
Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San
Diego.

1973-1977 Summary

     The Snell Committee report, approved in November 1973, challenged the
Marine Corps to take a new look at its use of womanpower, and the zero draft
situation for military services demanded it.  Combined with the women's
movement, changing attitudes in American society, and successful recruiting in
terms of quality as well as numbers, these factors added up to a role of
increased importance to be played by women in the Marine Corps.