After 18 years as a closed rate to Navy women, the Communications Technician rate has opened up. Over the holiday leave period, SR Barbara Zich, SR Carol Frost, and SR Paulette Blake, reported aboard the Naval Communication Training Center (Corry Station) from RTC Orland for CT “A” (administrative branch school).
Navy women have previously received CT training in YN school at Imperial Beach. They were dropped from the school in 1954 primarily because of the difficulty it took to send such a few number of women to duty stations in the restricted rate. By 1960 most of the rated women CT’s were out of service. The first Navy women now arriving for CT school here will be enrolled in “A” Branch school. Eventually “O” and “R” Branch school will open up. CT “A” school is a six week course.
Before their classes convened on January 8, (1973), two of the Navy women were part of the holding company; assisting staff personnel in office work.
Before the command could accommodate the women sailors, a few adjustments were required to be made in their berthing and training areas.
SR Zich, 18, hails from Chicago, Illinois, Even though she has only been in the Navy a short time she says, “The Navy gives me a feeling of independence and at the same time a feeling of being protected.”
SR Frost, 19, is from Emporia, Kansas. “I joined the Navy to get all the training I could and to receive college benefits for when I get out of the Navy and to travel.”
SR Blake, 18, is from Norfolk, Virginal.
Source: NCTC Corry Log, January 12, 1973
Station HYPO 
8 January 2022 at 14:21
CTI must have been opened up for women shortly thereafter. When I went back to DLIWC for Russian in the summer of 1973, one of my classmates was AG3 Sue Cullen, who was cross-rating to CTI. When we both arrived at Goodfellow a year later, there were other women CTI, including Veronica Budacki and Sheri Christianson (??), the first two ladies who completed the Arabic course. Vicki completed her successful career as a Commander, not sure what happened to the other pioneers. Maybe some will read this post and weigh in.
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8 January 2022 at 14:56
When I got to Pensacola in late summer 1973 there were female CTs. When I got to my first duty station (Edzell) there were no women there. When I got to Skaggs (after HFDF Tech Control School) there were a bunch working in civilian clothes. At first, I thought they were civilian contractors — turns out there were CTs who were pregnant and since the Navy had no maternity uniforms, they all were authorized to wear civilian clothes. Apparently, this got them out of inspections! I got married to a CTT2 at Skaggs. Turned out we were in boot camp at the same time and in A school at the same time but did not meet until two duty stations later. My dad (1949-1975) and mom (1950-1952) were both CTs and met in Hawaii. My mom was discharged when they got married as that was the rule back then. I severe with lots of really great female CTs.
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8 January 2022 at 15:56
1964 Lots of CTA Women at NAVSECSTA, Washington Dc.
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8 January 2022 at 17:37
FB comment from Ed Hills:
For CTI’s it was followed by a short moratorium until the billet structure could be realigned. Too many complaints that women were taking up all the “shore” billets because they could not deploy. The solution was to create separate buckets for male and female billets then simply fully (or over) man the female slots while under manning the male slots. Just a shell game to give the impression of parity. As the dept head of language training at Goodfellow, it was frustrating that the female students, who were finishing at the top of nearly every class, could not be assigned to the jobs (usually arduous duty) where we needed the most proficient linguists. Recruiters had the luxury of taking the absolute cream of the crop amongst female prospects because of the relatively few openings. As fate would have it, I was the OP-01 Manpower Analyst/billet writer for Secgru when congress opened sea duty and airborne duty to women (only took a decade and a half).
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13 January 2022 at 00:41
Pat Woznick was a member of my class (RU0143) at DLIEC beginning January 1973. (I’ve forgotten her maiden name, she and CTI2(NAC) ?Ed? Woznick married between DLIEC and GAFB TX. The three of us wound up at NSGD/NCS Rota – she in PandR, he with VQ-2, and me in the Sub Shop. Both were superb linguists and DIRSUPers. I briefly met Pat in 1981 while I was passing through Helinikon en route home on EML from NFS Sinop. She and her husband had been promoted to CTIC (he was deployed at that time.
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8 January 2022 at 18:15
At a bar near my house, I ran into a barmaid who was a CTO. She was trained at Corry, as I was. I served about 20 years before she did. We would talk in “CTO” language, which utterly confused everyone else at the bar. It was interesting hearing her tell how females were accomodate in the barricks.
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11 January 2022 at 07:10
I was in Rota in January 1973, a CTT2 nearing the end of a three year tour of duty. By October 10th I had completed my four year commitment to Uncle Sam. When I left I was still a Communications Technician and I had never seen a female CT. Now I am a CRYPTO TECH and there are Woman doing my old job too. What a changing world… They even tore down the “Bull Ring” leaving a scar on the ground you can GOOGLE on the Internet.
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20 January 2023 at 04:51
When I arrived as a CTI3 at NAVCOMSTAPHIL San Miguel in Jan 1974, there were (as I recall) at least three female A branchers there; I don’t recall ever meeting any women from the other CT branches during my time in (71-75).
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