Women in the US Navy - Centennial

Women have been serving as an integral part of the US Navy since the establishment of the Nurse Corps in 1908.

Nine years later, the US Navy authorized the enlistment of women as “Yeomanettes.” In 1948, the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was signed, making it possible for women to enter the Navy in regular or reserve status.
In 1972, the Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress, allowing for no separate management of men and women, authorized entry of enlisted women into all ratings, and opened Recruit Officer Training Command to women.

Today, women account for more than 15 percent of the Navy’s Sailors and command expeditionary strike groups, aviation squadrons, combatant ships, civil engineer corps commands, and numerous other operational and shore units.
“The increasing number of women shows that our nation and our military supports equal opportunity and hopefully other organizations will follow us,” said Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Amber Reyes, a criminal investigator assigned to the Security Department at Naval Station Pearl Harbor.

Women in today’s Navy can be seen doing the same jobs as their male counterparts such as: saving lives in the ocean as search and rescue swimmers; building houses as Seabees; patrolling streets as security force members; and navigating ships as master helmsmen.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.