April 23, 2021

Susan Ahn Cuddy

In November 2020, CNO and Mrs. Gilday installed a new exhibit in the Tingey House highlighting the accomplishments of female Navy pioneers. The pioneers proudly served their country and this year the Naval History and Heritage Command will be sharing their stories. In 1942, Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy became the first female Asian-American to serve in the Navy and also its first female gunnery officer.

April 2, 2021

Katherine Horton, World War II Veteran and African American Trailblazer

​In November 2020, CNO and Mrs. Gilday installed a new exhibit in the Tingey House highlighting the accomplishments of female Navy trailblazers. The trailblazers proudly served their country and this year the Naval History and Heritage Command will be sharing their stories. Katherine Horton joined the Navy in 1944 and in March 1945, she became one of the first three African American WAVES to enter the Hospital Corps School at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

March 17, 2021

Loretta Perfectus Walsh - First Enlisted Woman in the Navy

​In November 2020, CNO and Mrs. Gilday installed a new exhibit in the Tingey House highlighting the accomplishments of female Navy pioneers. The pioneers proudly served their country and this year the Naval History and Heritage Command will be sharing their stories. One hundred and four years ago this week, Loretta Perfectus Walsh enlisted in the U.S. Navy. She was the first woman to serve in a non-nursing capacity in any branch of the armed forces.

Feb. 1, 2021

Perseverance: Lt. j.g. Harriet Ida Pickens and Ensign Frances Wills

In November 2020, CNO and Mrs. Gilday installed a new exhibit entitled "Celebrating Navy Women: Perseverance and Achievements" in the Tingey House. The pioneers proudly served their country and in 2021, the Naval History and Heritage Command will be sharing their stories.Two women who persevered were LTJG Harriet Ida Pickens and Ensign Frances

Dec. 21, 2020

Honoring 30 Years of Women in Command at Sea

Last month, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday and his wife Linda installed a new display in their residence highlighting the accomplishments of female Navy pioneers. Among them is a photo of Cmdr. Darlene Iskra, U.S. Navy, retired who, on Dec. 27, 1990 became the first woman to command a commissioned Navy ship. I recently spoke with Iskra

June 16, 2020

Trailblazer - First Female Executive Officer aboard USS Constitution

U.S. Navy photo...

Oct. 17, 2014

Remembering the First Black Women Naval Officers

"Navy to admit Negroes into the WAVES," so read the newspaper headlines Oct. 19, 1944. For the first time black women would be commissioned naval officers as members of the Navy's female reserve program.The program first made news July 30, 1942, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law. Their official nickname was WAVES, an acronym