United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve

Background

At the out-break of World War II, the notion of women serving in the Navy or Marine Corps (both under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Navy) was not widely supported by the congress or by the branches of the military services. Nevertheless, there were some who believed that women would eventually be needed in the military. The most notable was Edith Nourse Rogers, Representative of Massachusetts, and Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the president, who helped pave the way for its reality. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed what would become Public Law 689 on 30 July 1942, it established a Women’s Reserve as a branch of the Naval Reserve for the Navy and Marine Corps. The idea behind the law was to free-up officers and men for combat, with women standing-in for them at shore stations on the home front. Women could now serve in the WR as an officer or at an enlisted level, with a rank or rating consistent with that of men. WR volunteers could only serve for the duration of the war, plus six months. But the Corps saw fit to delay formation of the WR until 13 February 1943. It was the last service branch to accept women into its ranks, and “there was considerable unhappiness about making the Marine Corps anything but a club for white men”. In fact, General Thomas Holcomb, Commandant of the Marine Corps was a well-known opponent of women serving in the corps. But he later reversed himself, saying, “there’s hardly any work at our Marine stations that women can’t do as well as men. They do some work far better than men. … What is more, they’re real Marines. They don’t have a nickname, and they don’t need one.” Holcomb rejected all acronyms or monikers for the WR; he did not believe they were compulsorily. And there were many of them, including: Femarines, WAMS, Dainty Devil-Dogs, Glamarines, Women’s Leatherneck-Aides, MARS, and Sub-Marines. By the summer of 1943, attempts to pressure the WR into a nickname had diminished. WR was as far as Holcomb would move in that direction.

Ruth Cheney Streeter

Mrs. Ruth Cheney Streeter was named the first director of the WR; commissioned a major and sworn in by the Secretary of the Navy on 29, January 1943. A year later, Streeter was promoted to colonel. She was not the first woman to see active duty in the Marine Corps during World War II. Weeks earlier, Mrs. Anne A. Lentz, a civilian clothing expert who had helped design the WR uniforms, was commissioned a captain. Lentz came to the corps on a 30-day assignment from the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and stayed on. Streeter was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1895 and attended Bryn Mawr College for two years. She was the wife of a prominent (Morristown, NJ) lawyer and businessman, and the mother of four children; three sons in the military in World War II and a younger daughter. Although Streeter had 20 years of active civic work, she had never held a paying job. She was selected from a field of 12 outstanding women, all recommended to the corps by Dean Virigina C. Gildersleeve of Barnard College, who had earlier recommended Mildred McAfee for the director of the WAVES, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services. Streeter was 47 years of age when selected to head the WR. She was described as confident, spirited, patriotic, and a principled person, qualities she had demonstrateed. In 1940, she believed the United States would be drawn into World War II. Intending to be part of the war effort, Streeter learned to fly, earned a commercial pilots license and bought a small airplane. And in the summer of 1941, she joined the Civil Air Patrol. Although her plane was used to fly missions, she was, unhappily, relegated to doing … “all the dirty work’’. Then, when the Women’s Air Service Pilots (WASP) was formed, Streeter was 12 years over the age limit, but applied five times and was rejected five times. In January 1943, she inquired about service with the WAVES, flying was out of the question but told she could be a ground instructor. Streeter turned it down, and a month later became the director of the WR. During her tenure as the director, she sent an open letter to all women recruits, saying, ‘’It is not easy to Free a Marine to Fight (a recruiting slogan of the WR). It takes courage-the courage to embark on a new and an alien way of life…. Your spirit is a source of constant inspiration to all who work with you’’. Colonel Streeter resigned her commission from the WR 7 December 1945. A few months later, the Marine Corps presented her with the Legion of Merit. It was the highest award made to a woman marine as a result of World War II service to this time. The Marine Corps also dedicated the headquarters building of the Fourth Recruit Training Battalion at Paris Island to her. Ruth Chaney Streeter died 9 September 1990, two days before her 95th birthday.

Recruiting

The qualifications for women who wished to become members of the WR were quite rigid. The eligibility requirements for officer candidates and enlisted women were similar: United States citizenship; not married to a marine; either single or married but with no children under 18; height not less than 60 inches; weight not less than 95 pounds; good vision and good teeth. For enlisted, the age limits were from 20 to 35, and an applicant was required to have at least two years of high school. For officer candidates, the age limits were from 20 to 49, either a college graduate, or a combination of two years of college and two years of work experience. Later, the wives of enlisted marines were allowed to join, and enlisted women could marry after boot camp.

By way of agreement, the Navy and the Marine Corps designated the Navy’s procurement offices as recruiting centers for both the Navy’s WAVES and the WR. This helped to avoid competition in the recruiting of women for either naval service. Women applicants for either service would go to one office to enlist and to receive physical examinations. (Later on, the WR established its own recruiting capability.) When reservations surfaced about whether male, marine recruiters could properly select female applicants for the WR, the call went out for women recruiters. Nineteen WAVE officer candidates volunteered; they were transferred and assigned to procurement offices’. Still in WAVE uniforms, they began recruiting the first members of the WR. Lucile E. McClarren of Nemacolm, Pennsylvania, appears to have been the first enlisted women recruited. The WR did not accept African American women or Japanese American women during the war years. The first Native American woman to enlist in the WR was Minnie Spotted-Wolf of Heart Butte, Montana. Early recruiting was brisk, so much so that, in some cases, women were sworn in and put to work in procurement offices, delaying their training until later.

The slogan,"Free a Marine to Fight" proved to be a strong drawing card for the WR, stronger than any fashioned by the WAC, Waves, or SPARS. Young women were eager to serve in the military during World War II, often in defiance of their family’s wishes. Marian Bauer’s parents were so upset when she joined the corps that they did not see her off. Jane Tailor’s father, a World War I veteran, gave her this advice, ‘‘Don’t ever complain to me. You’re doing this of your own free will. You weren’t drafted or forced. Now, go – learn, travel, and do your job to the best of your ability’’. And there were those parents who asked special consideration for daughters who were too young to enlist. The minimum age of 20 years, set by law, remained the same throughout the war for the WR. Some parents wondered why 18 year boys were sent into combat and 18 year old girls could not even serve. Aside from patriotism, Colonel Streeter was interested to learn the reasons why young women joined the WR. A survey of 1,000 new enlistees was conducted at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, which asked this question. The results of this survey showed the 750 enlistees had positive reasons for enlisting. Some had male relatives or friends in the armed forces, some wanted revenge against the enemy, while others wanted the experience it would bring to their lives. The remaining 250 acknowledged they were trying to escape from something: a bad home life, a broken marriage, boredom, or some personal disappointment. Indications were that Streeter was not displeased with the findings. The WR met its recruitment goal by 1 June 1944, and then stopped all recruiting. It began again on 20 September 1944, but on a limited basis. The peak strength was 17,640 enlisted and 820 officers.

The first group of six women officers recruited was given direct commissions in the WR. They were recruited for their abilities and civilian experiences; considered key to the success of the fledging program.

These women were assigned to active duty immediately, without any military training or formal indoctrination in the corps.

Uniforms

The wardrobe of the WR was a matter of genuine importance to the Marine Corps, so much so that a circular released in late 1943 stated the following:

WR recruits were promised uniforms upon reaching boot camp, but that was not always the case. In fact, during the summer of 1943, some boots had to train in civilian clothing until uniforms were available. On arrival, they turned out to be winter uniforms. The seersucker summer uniforms had yet to be designed. Disputes about fabric, cut, and production had a delaying affect upon delivery. In time, these issues were resolved, and most WR members felt their uniforms were much better looking than that of the other women’s military organizations.

The winter servvice uniform for both WR officers and enlisted was designed along the lines of the men’s uniform. It was a forest green and consisted of a skirt, no higher than the bottom of the kneecap, and an unbelted jacket with three bronze buttons, a green cap trimmed with a scarlet cord. Marine Corps emblems were placed on the cap and on the uniform lapels; scarlet chevrons were sewn on the jacket’s sleeves. Under the jacket, a khaki shirt and matching field scarf was worn. Added to the ensemble were dark brown gloves, shoulder bag, and shoes. For inclement weather, there was a green overcoat or a Khaki trench coat, a red muffler, and black boots, or rubbers. Neither officers or enlisted had dress uniforms. Although, officers were able to modify their winter service uniform into a dress uniform, by substituting a white shirt and forest green tie in place of the regular kaki. The enlisted members were without such freedom.

The summer service uniform was a two-piece green and white outfit, made of washable, seersucker material. It had two pieces, a skirt and a short-sleeved jacket with a V-neck. The cap was green and decorated with a white cord, buttons were white, chevrons were green, and emblems were bronze. The shoes were brown, the gloves were white, and the handbags were light green. The summer dress uniform was made of white twill. It had short sleeves and a V-neck, worn with gilt buttons on the jacket and cap, with dress emblems and white pumps. The Officers could choose between three summer dress uniforms. The first was the white one worn by enlisted women, but with added green shoulder straps. The other two were made of white twill or palm -beach material. One, was a short- sleeved blouse, and the other was long sleeved and collarless.

Slacks of covert material were worn for certain duties, although the most common work uniform was the olive-drab, cotton utility outfit, worn with high topped shoes. The trousers had a bib-front, crossed straps, and were worn over a short sleeve, matching shirt, and topped by a long sleeve jacket. For recreation, field nights, and physical conditioning, women Marines wore the peanut suit, so called because of its colored appearance. It was a tan, seersucker, one-piece bloomer outfit, with ties at the bottom of the shorts. In keeping with the propriety of the times, the women covered their legs with a front-buttoned A-lined skirt when not actively engaged in sports, exercises or work details.

Officer candidates

The WR officer candidates first trained at the Navy’s Midshipmen School for women officers, located at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, later branching out to nearby Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley. On 13 March 1943, the first group of 71 Marine officer candidates arrived at the Midshipmen’s School, Mount Holyoke College. Officer candidates joined as privates and after four weeks, if successful, became officer cadets. Those who did not meet the requirements had two choices; transfer to enlisted basic training or await discharge. Cadets who completed the eight-week course, but were not recommended for a commission were asked to resign. They were eventually discharged and allowed to join the enlisted ranks. The curriculum for officer candidates was the same as for the WAVES, except for drill, which was taught by Marine drill instructors. Candidates studied naval organization and administration, naval personnel, naval history and strategy, naval law and justice, and ships and aircraft. The second part of the training was specifically on Marine Corps subjects taught by male Marines. It included Marine Corps administration and courtesy, map reading, interior guard, safeguarding military information, and physical conditioning. On 4 May 1943, members of the first class received their commissions in the Marine Corps.

A total of 214 women Marine Corps officers completed training at Mount Holyoke collage. Although joint training with the Navy proved satisfactory, it did not develop the famed Marine esprit de corps. So Marine Headquarters decided to consolidate all WR training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. On 1 July1943, the women of the fourth Officer Candidate’s class at Mount Holyoke boarded troop trains for the two-day trip to Camp Lejeune, where they and all future offricers woud be trained.

Enlisted

The first class of recruits (722) completed their recruit training at Hunter College in The Bronx, New York. In July 1943, the Marine Corps transferred the officer and recruit training to more permanent facilities in New River, North Carolina. Nearly 19,000 women would complete their training at New River during the course of the war.

Assignments

The women were assigned to over 200 different jobs, among them: radio operator, photographer, parachute rigger, driver, aerial gunnery instructor, cook, baker, quartermaster, control tower operator, motion picture operator, auto mechanic, telegraph operator, cryptographer, laundry operator, post exchange manager, stenographer, and agriculturist. They would serve as the trained nucleus for possible mobilization emergencies. The demobilization of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve of 820 officers and 17,640 enlisted was to be completed by 1 September 1946. Of the 20,000 women who had joined the Marine Corps during World War II, only 1,000 remained in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve on 1 July 1946.

On 12 June 1948, the United States Congress passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, and made women a permanent part of the regular Marine Corps.

In 1950, the Women Marine Corps Reserves mobilized for the Korean War and 2,787 women were called to active duty. By the height of the Vietnam War, about 2,700 women had served both stateside and overseas. By 1975, the Marine Corps had approved the assignment of women to all occupational fields, except the infantry, artillery, armor, and pilot-air crew. Over 1,000 women were deployed in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990–1991.

Chronology