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Meet The Marine Corps First Female Native Mechanic

Valerie Barber's presence was considered an experiment when she enrolled in mechanic school in 1974.

September 9, 2019

Valerie Barber, who would become the Marine Corps first female native mechanic, was considered an experiment at the time that she was enrolled in the U.S. Marine Corps mechanic school in 1974. Occupational specializations were closed at that time to women and the Marine Corps wanted to see if women could handle the same training as their male counterparts.

Valerie, who served from 1974 to 1980, served as a woman and a minority in the Marine Corps in a time where being either was uncommon. Though she often found herself fighting to be recognized alongside the men she worked with, she was afforded a huge honor: she was invited to attend the presidential inauguration.


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This story is part of the collection The Call to Serve: Stories of Sacrifice, War and the Way Home, which was funded by the Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation.

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