Throughout National Veterans and Military Families Month, Women of Color online is drawing inspiration from hundreds of women who have received Women of Color STEM awards while serving in the U.S. military.
The Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1948, acknowledged the great contributions made by women in the military and finally enabled them to serve as regular members of the United States Armed Forces and Reserves.
Joan Renee Queen received a direct commission into the Medical Service Corps, United States Navy Reserve, in 1983. She then attended Officer Indoctrination School in Newport, Rhode Island.
By 2010, when she received a Special Recognition Award at the Women of Color STEM Conference, she was commanding officer of the Naval Hospital Beaufort, South Carolina. There, she oversaw a $57 million budget and a staff of more than a thousand.
She provided expert leadership and strategic guidance for operations of an inpatient facility and two branch health clinics at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, and Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort.
The two clinics offered medical services to 32,000 eligible beneficiaries, more than 21,000 recruits annually, and nearly 2,800 people assigned to operational units.
