During World War I, in 1918, twin sisters Genevieve and Lucille Baker transferred from the Naval Coastal Defense Reserve and became the first uniformed women to serve in the Coast Guard. Before the war ended, several more women joined them, all of them serving in the Coast Guard at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
On November 23, 1942, the Coast Guard Women's Reserve was created with the signing of Public Law 773 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Dorothy Stratton transferred from the Navy WAVES to serve as the Reserve's director. Dorothy Tuttle was the first woman to enlist in the Coast Guard Women's Reserve, and in all 11,868 enlisted women and 978 female officers served in it during World War II. This included Olivia Hooker, who thus became the first African-American woman to enter the Coast Guard in 1945. In all five African-American women served in the Coast Guard Women's Reserve before it was ended in 1947, namely Hooker, D. Winifred Byrd, Julia Mosley, Yvonne Cumberbatch, and Aileen Cooke. The Coast Guard Women's Reserve was ended in 1947 but recreated in a smaller form in 1949.
Approximately 200 women who had been in the Coast Guard Women's Reserve reenlisted and served during the Korean War. They mostly served at the Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War gave the Coast Guard a surplus of qualified male applicants, and the Coast Guard did not make a systematic effort to attract women during that time.
Women in the Coast Guard since 1972
Frontiero v. Richardson,, was a landmarkSupreme Court case which decided that benefits given by the military to the family of service members cannot be given out differently because of sex. In 1974 the Coast Guard Women's Reserve was ended and women became part of the regular Coast Guard. In 1976 the Coast Guard Academy first admitted women; in 1985 Denise L. Matthews became the first woman to graduate at the top of her class at the Coast Guard Academy. In 1977 the first Coast Guard women were assigned to sea duty as crew members aboard Morgenthau and Gallatin. In 1978 the Coast Guard opened all assignments to women. In 1979 LTJG Beverly G. Kelley became the first female commanding officer afloat in U.S. history when she took command of USCGC Cape Newagen. Women in the Coast Guard served in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. In 1993 Patricia A. Stolle became the first woman in the Coast Guard to advance to Master Chief Petty Officer. Before the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was enacted in 1993, lesbians and bisexual women were banned from serving in the military. In 1993 the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was enacted, which mandated that the military could not ask servicemembers about their sexual orientation. However, until the policy was ended in 2011 service members were still expelled from the military if they engaged in sexual conduct with a member of the same sex, stated that they were lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and/or married or attempted to marry someone of the same sex. Women in the Coast Guard served in the Afghanistan War from 2001 until 2014, and in the Iraq War from 2003 until 2011. In 2011 Rear AdmiralSandra Stosz was chosen by the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, ADM Robert J. Papp to become the superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy. As such, she was the first woman to lead a United States military service academy. In 2020, Rear Admiral Melissa Bert became the first woman to serve as the Judge Advocate General and Chief Counsel of the Coast Guard.
