Page 8 - A History of Women in the Coast Guard

(Top) SPARs were originally assigned to office work but restrictions were eventuallylifted. By the end of World War II, women worked in 43
different ratings. (Bottom) Women received handgun and other nontradi­ tional training during th@war,
6 • A history ot women in the Coast Guard
telephone switchboard) into the military. Then a former policewoman demonstrated in boot camp that she knew how to shoot,
and a former professional photographer suggested that she could qualify as a pho­ tographer's mate. The policy changed, and
by the end of the war SPARs held 43 dif­ ferent ratings from boatswain's mate to yeoman.
The first 200 SPAR
officers were trained at I a Navy facility on the l campus of Smith Col­
lege, a women's school
in Northampton, Mass.
The Coast Guard real­
ized, however, that it
needed an indoctrina­
tion facility for its own
female officers. On
June 28, 1943, the
Coast Guard Academy,
New London, Conn., opened its doors to
women when a class of
50 SPAR officer candi­
dates reported for in­ doctrination. SPAR