First Class: Women Join the Ranks at the Naval Academy

The author, among the first female midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, describes the obstacles and harassment faced by her class, and discusses the future role for women in the Navy

In the summer of 1976, Disher was among the 81 women who were the first females to enter the hallowed U.S. Naval Academy. Disher stuck out the tough regimen and graduated with her class, then served in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps. Here, she recounts what it was like for that first group of Naval Academy women: "I write this book to document history," she states. Following the group on a near-daily basis, Disher reports not her own experience but that of two classmates, Sarah Becker and Kate Brigman. The women endure the predictable embarrassments and goofs at the hands of an institution unaccustomed to having females in its midst. They must announce their bra sizes to attendants passing out military-issue everything. They must march and run while wearing three-inch heels, and must endure the taunts of male classmates furious at having their bastion invaded. Eventually, Becker begins an illicit relationship with an upperclassman that could jeopardize their fledgling Navy careers. Rather than examine why two young people would place themselves at such risk, however, and what that meant regarding Becker's role as a pioneering female, Disher reports the affair in bodice-ripping detail: "He stood beside her, slim, tanned and shirtless.... She tried not to stare at the soft, thin line of hair growing from his belly button to the top of his fly...." The adventures of Brigman are accorded similar treatment. Neither of these women will feel repercussions from appearing in Disher's narrative, however. It turns out that Becker is a pseudonym, and Brigman is a composite character. This is a disappointing work, with too much adolescent fantasy romance mixed into its history.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In 1976, Disher was among the first female midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. After graduating in 1980, she served on active duty with the Civil Engineer Corps for 10 years. She does not blow her own horn nearly as much as many will think she could, considering how much ignorance, opposition, and outright harassment she and the other women faced at Annapolis while simultaneously wrestling the normal problems of late adolescence with much less help than later generations take for granted. She survived, though, and remains committed to the navy and to expanding women's roles in it. Her book tends to support the navy's image as the most conservative service on issues of women in uniform. But it also shows that support for Disher and other women came from surprisingly many and odd places, and it affords a fascinating perspective on an aggressively all-male institution engaged in gender integration. Roland Green