Blitzkrieg Baby

Women's Reserve of the
Coast Guard
(SPARS)

II. Facts about the SPARS
.

-.	Requirements for Joining
-.	Training
-.	SPARS Types of Duty
-.	SPARS Duty Stations
-.	Payment

Facts about the SPARS

Requirements for Joining

.	Enlisted Personnel	Officers
Age	Not less than 20 and not over 36.	Not less than 20 and not over 50.
Citizenship	Native-born American. If not native-born, applicant or her parents must have naturalization papers.	Native-born American. If not native-born, applicant or her parents must have naturalization papers.
Dependents	No children under 18 years of age.	No children under 18 years of age.
Education	At least 2 years of high school	Must have a college degree or have passed two years of college work and had at least two years of acceptable business or professional experience.
Marriage	A married woman may enlist provided her husband is not in the Coast Guard. Unmarried women must agree not to marry until after they have finished their period of training. After training, a SPAR may marry a civilian or a service man who is not in the Coast Guard.	A married woman may enlist provided her husband is not in the Coast Guard. Unmarried women must agree not to marry until after they have finished their period of training. After training, a SPAR may marry a civilian or a service man who is not in the Coast Guard.
Character	Furnish three character references	Furnish three character references
Experience	Submit a record of occupation since leaving school.	Submit a record of occupation since leaving school.
Physical Examination	Pass a Navy physical examination. Applicant must be not less than five feet in height and less than 95 pounds in weight.	Pass the Navy examination for candidates for commissions.
Term of Enlistment	For the duration of the war and not more than six months thereafter	For the duration of the war and not more than six months thereafter

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All Applications should be made to the nearest office of Naval Officer procurement.
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Training

Starting on 17 February 1943, SPARS received preliminary training at a time when Coast Guard instructional institutes for women were still being set up. Enlisted SPARS trained at various places. The first group of SPARS transferred from the WAVES received their training at the Oklahoma's Agricultural and Mechanical University in Stillwater which also became a specialist school for the yeaoman rating. The first civilian women who enlisted as SPARS were trained at the Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls.
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More than 1,900 SPARS were sent to Hunter College at the Naval Training Station in Bronx, New York, for a five-week "boot training" course in military indoctrination (etiquette and customs), naval uniforms and history, ships and aircraft, military organization and regulations.

From the middle of 1943 until the end of 1944, Coast Guard female recruits underwent more regimented initial training in Florida at the leased Palm Beach Biltmore Hotel. More than 7,000 women were indoctrinated in the 18 months where the training school at Palm Beach existed.

Regimental Review, US Coast Guard Training Station,
Palm Beach, Florida

..
Until the end of war, SPARS taining was conducted at Manhattan Beach, New York. About 1,900 SPARS went through the Training Station Manhattan.
..

Enlisted SPARS were trained in all the categories offered to WAVES and in the schools already established for the WAVES. In addition, they received special indoctrination by Coast Guard officers.

After the "boot training" some of the trainees were ready for active duty, while others, selected on the basis of aptitude tests went to specialist's schools for further specialists' training to fit them for specific jobs. They could attend advanced training at the yeoman school, the storekeeper schools or advanced radio schools. Such specialized training lasted up to three more months.

Officers were commissioned directly from civilian life, based on their appearance and stamina, educational background (preferably with college degrees in finance, communications and personal management) and seafaring background (swimming, yachting or sailing) suitable for Coast Guard maritime work.

Additionally, enlisted SPARS were encouraged to apply as officer candidates. About 31 percent of the SPARS officers were drawn from enlisted personnel eventually. Officer candidates attended the Naval Reserve Midshipmen School in Massachusetts and often completed schooling at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Many had to pass two months of advanced communication courses prior to final commissioning.

SPARS officers learning gunnery and maneuver of Coast Guard combat patrol craft. Most are already experienced sailors and experts at handling yachts and motorboats prior to joing the SPARS.

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Course	Station	Location
Basic SPAR before mid-1943	Campus, Stillwater Campus, Cedar Falls Naval Training School, Bronx	Oklahoma's A&M University, Stillwater Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls Hunter College, New York
Basic SPAR after mid-1943	Training Station Palm Beach	Palm Beach, Florida
Basic SPAR since 1945	Training Station Manhattan	Manhattan Beach, New York
Advanced Enlisted	Yeoman School 1 Yeoman School 2	Cedar Falls, Iowa Stillwater, Oklahoma
Advanced Enlisted	Storekeeper School 1 Storekeeper School 2 Storekeeper School 3	Bloomington, Indiana Boston, Massachusetts Milledgeville, Georgia
Advanced Enlisted	Radio School 1 Radio School 2	Madison, Wisconsin Oxford, Ohio
Officer Candidate	Naval Reserve Midshipmen School Coast Guard Academy	Northampton, Massachusetts New London, Connecticut
Advanced Officer	Communications School Pay and Supply School	Northampton, Massachusetts Palm Beach, Florida

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SPARS Types of Duty .

Enlisted SPAR dispatching communications

Only a few jobs SPARS did were glamorous. Mostly, they were working at desks formerly occupied by male officers and enlisted men.

SPARS women initially replaced men in shore stations as receptionists, messengers, mail clerks, telephone and switchboard operators, teletype experts, yeomen, storekeepers, radio operators and technicians, drivers of military vehicles, pharmacist mates, cooks and stewards.

As the war progressed, Coast Guard women were placed in charge of greater areas of previously male-only control.
For example, women soon had instrumental roles in control of shipping through the Naval Port Director offices, in which they served and often helped to coordinate. This essential task insured that port shipping was quickly and efficiently routed to avoid mishaps and undue delays. Such clearance and discharge responsibilities placed women in the forefront of many military cargo and personnel handling decisions. Port ammunition and explosives were added to this responsibility, so that many women performed dangerous and hazardous assignments.

Signal Lamp Instruction

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During the summer of 1943, it was decided that SPARS should take over the very important and secret job of operating LORAN Monitoring Stations at the Atlantic coasts of the United States.
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SPAR officers inspecting LORAN stations in Alaska

LORAN (Long Range Aid to Navigation) was a classified electronic system developed during the war that enabled navigators of air and surface craft to fix positions under all weather conditions. Vessel dim-outs and even blackouts within the North Atlantic combat zone was possible because of the valuable navigational aid of the LORAN system.

The work at the LORAN stations demanded highly classified personnel with a special training. The SPAR operators combined to complete 24-hour watches every day.

The LORAN unit at Chatham on Cape Cod was the first one staffed completely by women.

. Examples of jobs taken over by SPARS: .

*Accountants*	*Gunners' Mates*	*Pharmacists' Mates*
*Aerographers*	*Hospital Attendants*	*Photographer's Mates*
*Air Control Tower Operators*	*Home Economists*	*Public Reception Assistants*
*Aviation Machinists' Mates*	*International Business Machine Operators*	*Public Relations Assistants*
*Aviation Metalsmiths*	*Legal Assistants*	*Quartermasters*
*Bakers*	*Line Assistants*	*Radarmen*
*Card Punch Operators*	*Link Trainer Operators*	*Radio Communication Operators*
*Chaplains' Assistants*	*Mail Clerks*	*Radio Technicians*
*Chauffeurs*	*Mechanics*	*Stewards*
*Clerks*	*Mess Attendants*	*Storekeepers*
*Commissary Stewards*	*Messengers*	*Tabulators*
*Cooks*	*Meteorlogists Technicians*	*Telephone Operators*
*Coxwain*	*Morale Workers*	*Teletype Operators*
*Draftmen*	*Motion Picture Technicians*	*Tower Watchers*
*Electricians' Mates*	*Motor Vehicle Drivers*	*Typists*
*File Clerks*	*Musicians*	*Welfare Assistants*
*Financial Assistants*	*Parachute Riggers*	*Yeomen*

.
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Officers became especially valuable as communications directors and disbursing agents in Coast Guard Pay and Supply. They were responsible for allotment accounting, ration and general mess (control of dining facilities), clothing and procurement, as well as transportation supervision.

Duties of Officers:

*Administrative Assistants*	*Instructors at Training Posts*	*Morale and Welfare Recreation Workers*
*Commissary Officers*	*Legal Officers*	*Officer and Enlisted Procurement Officers*
*Communiators*	*Liaison*	*Personnel Officers*
*Engineers*	*Medical Technicians*	*Supply Technicians*
*Finance Officers*	*Metereologists*	*Public Relation Officers*

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SPARS worked within the following offices and under the following officers.
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I. Within the Office of The Commandant of the US Coast Guard
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Commandant's Office	Administrative Management Division
Advisory Board	Public Relations Division
Merchant Marine Council	Special Assistants

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II. Within offices of the Headquarters and the Assistant Commandant
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Office Services Division Statistical Division Chief Personnel Officer	Ordnance and Gunnery Division
Assistant Chief Personnel Officer	Port Security Division Chief Finance and Supply Officer
Auxiliary Division	Assistant Chief Finance and Supply Officer
Medical Division (note: actual female nurses and doctors from Public Health Service)	Administrative Assistant
Women's Reserve Division Inspector in Chief (Inspection Division)	Planning and Procedures Officer
Intelligence Division	Accounting Division
Legal Division	Budget and Reports Division
Chief Operations Officer	Supply Division Engineer in Chief
Operations Planning Officer	Assistant Engineer in Chief
Allowance Division	Aeronautical Engineering Division
Aviation Division	Naval Engineering Division
Merchant Marine Inspection Division	Contract Services Division
Merchant Marine Personnel Division	Materiel Reports Division

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III. Under the following officers within each Coast Guard/Navy District
(see SPARS Duty Stations) .

Headquarters of the District	Marine Inspection Officer
Military Morale Officer	Ordnance and Gunnery Officer
Personnel Procurement Officer	Port Security Officer
Records and Assignments Officer	Vessel Operations Officer
Temporary Reserve Personnel Officer	Intelligence Officer
Training Officer	Law Officer
Civilian Personnel Officer	Finance and Supply Officer
District Director of the Auxiliary Medical Officer and Engineer Officer	Budget and Accounting Officer
Civil Engineer Officer	Clothing Officer
Communications Engineer Officer	Commissary Officer
Marine Engineer Officer	Pay and Disbursing Officer
Aids to Navigation Officer	Supply Officer
Beach Patrol Officer	Transportation Officer
Communications Officer	Operations Officer

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SPARS Duty Stations .

Coast Guard District *	Headquarters	Location
First	Boston, Massachusetts	New England
Third	New York, New York	Northeast
Fourth	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Mid-Atlantic north
Fifth	Norfolk, Virginia	Mid-Atlantic south
Sixth	Charleston, South Carolina	Southeast
Seventh	Miami, Florida	Florida, Bahamas
Eighth	New Orleans, Louisiana	Gulf coast
Ninth	Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis	Great Lakes and Mississippi River
Eleventh	San Diego, California	West Coast south
Twelfth	San Francisco, California	West Coast middle
Thirteenth	Seattle, Washington	Northwest
Fourteenth **	Honolulu, Hawaii	Hawaii and Pacific
Seventeenth **	Ketchikan, Alaska	Alaska, Aleutian Islands

*	No Second, Fifteenth, or Sixteenth Districts existed. Coast Guard Districts were also known as Navy Districts.
**	SPARS could be assigned to the Fourteenth and Seventeenth Districts (Hawaii and Alaska) after 27 September 1944, because of a basic Reserve Act amendment that removed restrictions where SPARS could serve. Both were important duty stations and many SPARS eventually served in both places.

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Payment
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SPARS received the same rates of pay as Coast Guardsmen.
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Enlisted SPARS
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Rate	Monthly Base Pay	Subsistence	Total
Apprentice Seaman	$50	$82.50	$132.50
Seaman, Second Class	$54	$82.50	$136.50
Seaman, First Class	$66	$82.50	$148.50
Petty Officer Third Class	$78	$82.50	$160.50
Petty Officer Second Class	$96	$82.50	$178.50
Petty Officer, First Class	$114	$82.50	$196.50
Chief Petty Officer	$126	$82.50	$208.50

Additionally, enlisted SPARS received $200 uniform allowance. . SPARS Officers .

Rank	Monthly Base Pay	Allowances	Total
Ensign	$150	plus subsistence and quarters allowance	about $216
Lieut. (jg.)	$166.67	plus allowances	about $247
Lieut. (sg.)	$200	plus allowances	about $296
Lieut. Comdr.	$250	plus allowances	.

Additionally, SPARS officers received $250 uniform allowance. . [ I. Development ]..[ II. Facts about the SPARS ]..[ III. Uniforms ]..[ IV. Sources ]

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