The Navy Celebrates Women’s Equality Day

UNITED STATES

12.30.2020

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Rebekah Montanez 

USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)

On August 26, 1920, American women achieved full voting rights following the ratification of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Fifty-three years later, Women’s Equality Day was established to commemorate the certification of women’s right to vote.
Since the first observance, Women’s Equality Day has expanded beyond the scope of suffrage. It now represents the continued efforts towards full equality, and recognizes the milestones achieved along the way in both the civilian and military sector.
Women have served in the U.S. Navy for over a century. As early as the American Civil War, women served as nurses with the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, which remained entirely female until 1965. Today, there are over 50,000 women currently serving in an active duty capacity, filling roles both traditional and non-traditional, such as onboard submarines, in aviation, and in nuclear environments.
“Just in the last five years we have seen that every career field has become open to women now,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Anderson, the Public Affairs Officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). “In 2015, it wasn’t like that. We’ve come leaps and bounds.”
Since the 1900s, there have been several significant milestones for women in the Navy. In 1917, Loretta Perfectus Walsh was the first woman to enlist in the Navy. She subsequently became the first female chief petty officer and was also the first woman allowed to serve as anything other than a nurse as she held the role of yeoman.
World War II was a significant catalyst to increasing female personnel in the Navy. Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) authorized the Navy to accept women into the Naval Reserve for the duration of the war, allowing them to serve in over 900 shore billets in the U.S.
In the 1970s, further changes occurred for women in the Navy. In 1978, the law banning women from ships was ruled unconstitutional in Owens v. Brown. Women were thus allowed to fill sea duty billets on noncombatant ships. Further, Alene Duerk became the Navy’s first female admiral in 1972.
“Women are now serving in a multitude of roles and billets,” said Chief Aviation Electrician’s Mate Alieda Russell, the John C. Stennis’ training chief petty officer. “Today, we have women serving on submarines and this year we had the Navy’s first black female fighter pilot, Madeline Swegle, who earned her wings this July.”
Today, women in the Navy are eligible to serve in all ratings. In 2016, the Secretary of Defense Ash Carter ruled that all combat jobs would be open to women. In 2010, the Department of the Navy authorized women to serve aboard submarines, with the first group of female submariners completing training and reporting to their submarines in November 2011.
“Women’s Equality Day is about recognizing that we are able to do the same thing as our male counterparts, and although we may have struggled to get there, it is important to show that we are just as capable,” said Anderson.
Navy women continue to pave the way towards equal opportunity to create a cohesive warfighting unit like never before. The Navy, and the John C. Stennis, celebrates the women who have served and continue to serve today.
The John C. Stennis is partnering with Newport News Shipbuilding to complete RCOH on schedule with a trained, resilient and cohesive crew.
For more news on John C. Stennis, visit www.public.navy.mil/airfor/cvn74/pages/index.aspx or follow along on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stennis74.

• Date Taken: 12.30.2020
• Date Posted: 12.30.2020 13:31
• Story ID: 386131
• Location: US