|
|
|
|
Sept
09, 2002
|
an
online newsletter for and by NOAA employees
|
|
NOAA Corps Women Celebrate Three Decades of Service By LT Cecile Daniels Women have been serving in uniformed services within various non-combatant posts since 1811. But people are often surprised to learn that until 1972 women were not allowed into the smallest of the seven services at all. NOAA Corps traces its lineage back 195 years, to 1807 when President signed a bill for the "Survey of the Coast." The newly formed Coast Survey department hired a work force made up of civilians working hand-in-hand with Army and Naval officers. In 1917, the commissioned service of the Coast and Geodetic Survey was formed. The Army and Naval officers that served within the Coast Survey department were assimilated into this newly form uniform service; this service preceded the NOAA Commissioned Corps. Fifty-five years after its formation, Ensign Pamela Chelgren received the distinction of being the first woman officer appointed to the NOAA Corps.
Pamela Chelgren, the daughter of a Naval Captain, graduated with a degree in Bio-Engineering from University of California, Berkeley. Ensign Chelgren, was appointed June 21, 1972, and attended the 41st Basic Officer Training Course. Commissioned along with 17 other officers, she was the sole female in a 345-member organization. CDR Pamela Chelgren-Koterba retired from the NOAA Corps in May 1995. She once said, "I am more interested in the challenge of the job itself, than I am in being a "first." But she did open the way for many more women to follow. Captain Francesca Cava, commissioned July 1973, became the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Captain in the NOAA Corps. Evelyn J. Fields, commissioned October 1973, was the first African American woman to join the NOAA Corps. On May 13, 1999, the Senate confirmed Capt. Evelyn Fields as director of the NOAA Corps - the first woman and the first African American to serve in this position. Following her confirmation, Captain Fields was promoted to the rank of rear admiral, upper half. Her ship tours included serving as junior officer, operations officer, executive officer and, on the NOAA Ship McARTHUR, as Commanding Officer. Admiral Fields was the first female to serve as commanding officer of a NOAA ship and a U.S. government oceangoing vessel. CDR Michele Bullock, commissioned October 1985, was first to command a NOAA ship where the top three senior positions were held by women. CDR Bullock currently serves as the Chief of the Operations Division at the Pacific Marine Center, Seattle. The NOAA Corps recruiting unit has little trouble obtaining qualified female applicants. Recruiting statistics indicate that, over 10 years, the average number of women commissioned per basic officer training class is about 28 percent. In the last two training classes, about half of the officers were women. The NOAA Corps today is vastly different than when Ensign Pamela Chelgren was commissioned. Many more women are now trailblazers, leading the way and creating the opportunity for more to follow. |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
