SPARS was the authorized nickname for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve. The nickname is an acronym fashioned from the USCG's motto, "Semper Paratus"—"Always Ready" (SPAR).[Note 1] The Women's Reserve was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on November 23, 1942. The law authorized the USCG to accept women into its Women's Reserve as commissioned officers and at the enlisted level for the duration of World War II plus six months. Its purpose was to release male officers and enlisted men for sea duty by replacing them with women at shore stations. This same month, Dorothy C. Stratton was appointed director of the Women's Reserve and given the rank of lieutenant commander. She was later promoted to captain.
Officer candidates for the Women's Reserve needed to be age 20–50, and they were required to have a college degree or two years of college and two years of professional or business experience. For enlisted personnel, the qualifying age was 20–36, and they were required to have completed at least two years of high school. At first the USCG would not accept African American women, but in February 1945 five African American women were accepted and served in the SPARs. Officer candidates received their indoctrination at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and later at the USCG Academy in New London, Connecticut. Enlisted personnel first received training on several college campuses. Later, their training took place at Palm Beach, Florida, in the Biltmore Hotel that was remodeled for use as a training center. Toward the end of the war, training of enlisted personnel was transferred from Palm Beach to Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York.
At peak strength, the Women's Reserve had approximately 11,000 officers and enlisted personnel in its ranks. Except for the territory of Puerto Rico, the SPARs served in every USCG district, including the then territories of Hawaii and Alaska. Most officers were general duty officers, and most enlisted women performed clerical duties. Nonetheless, a select group of officers and enlisted SPARs were chosen to work with LORAN (Long Range Aid to Navigation); it was a secret land-based navigation system developed during World War II at MIT to monitor the location of ships at sea or aircraft in flight.
Following the Victory over Japan (V-J Day) in August 1945, the demobilization of SPAR personnel began.
By 1946, nearly all reservists had been discharged, and in 1947 the Women's Reserve was officially inactivated. But on the eve of the Korean War in November 1949, the Women's Reserve was reactivated—this time as the USCG Women's Volunteer Reserve. Throughout the conflict in Korea (1950–1953), the USCG actively recruited former SPARs for the volunteer reserve with approximately 200 of them reenlisting.
In 1973, Congress enacted legislation ending the Women's Volunteer Reserve, and allowing women to be officially integrated into either active-duty or reserve service.
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