Girl Recruits "Man” U.S. Naval School

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVII, Issue 14927, 15 March 1949, Page 5

Girl Recruits "Man” U.S. Naval School

New Proviso Opens Careers For Female Officers

All Male Rights And Privileges Enjoyed

For the first time in the history of the United States Navy, lipsticks and powder-puffs have gone to classes at the naval line school in Newport, Rhode Island, writes a staff reporter in the Christian Science Monitor.

There was a breath cf perfume and a sprightly tap of high heels through the classrooms where only males heretofore have studied Lovette and Mahan and learned “the school of the sailor.” This was the first full day of schoolwork for 29 newly commissioned women ensigns starting careers as naval officers.

These attractive, pert girls, all between 21 and 26 years of age, are not Waves (the American counterpart of the British Wren), not wartime volunteers or emergency recruits, for there’s no such thing as the Waves any more. There’re “regular navy” as much as the men who fly the dive bombers and man the battle fleets.

They v/ill spend five months of study at Newport before assignment to ship or shore duty in the United States or abroad. When they finish their studies, another class of about 29 ensigffis will follow, the process to be repeated, at present plans, in the years to come.

Although most of them are sure to see shore service as administrative assistants or instructors, some of the girls can apply for duty afloat aboard hospital ships or transports as allowed by the law authorising a women’s section in the regular navy. The girls enjoy all the rights and privileges of male officers, including retirement after 20 years service if they choose to make the navy a career.