First Class: Women Join the Ranks at the Naval Academy

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite!
Review: After reading this book once I couldn't put it back down, so I read it for another three times in a row. As a future plebe I look at this book as an inperation, because these were the women who laid down the path for me and my generation of women who want to go the the United States Naval Academy. I really honor Mrs. Disher for sharing her experince at the academy as one of the first women gradurates of the academy. I really encourge anyone female or male to read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Lt. Sharon Disher
Review: As noted in the two previous reviews Lt. Disher served in the Civil Engineer Corp.

I had the opportunity to work for her as a civilian employee during her tour as an Assistant Resident Officer In Charge of Construction at the Everett ROICC office during the initial construction of the Everett Hompeport, current home of the Abraham Lincoln Battle Group.

At that time we were just starting to see female officers in construction managemant. It was one of the many fields that had been strictly male up until the time that she came on board.

I was a GS-9 Construction QA and served as her eyes and ears in the field. She was the contracting officer and had final say on any changes to the projects we worked on and had final signature authority for any changes we made.

It was surprising for a lot of the contractors to be working for a woman, in any capacity. It was more surprising for most of them that she was a quick study, learned their projects as fast as they did and was at least as sharp.

I am about ten years older than her but that was common for me when working with Lieutenants. They tended to be kids in my eyes. I like to think that I had no preconceptions about working for a woman although I never had before.

I always found Sharon to be totally professional. She would listen when she didn't know a subject but she never let the contractors get an edge on her. She had strong people skills and never had to rely on "cute". She was always an engineer and a naval officer. In short she was a professional.

I recognize some of the stories in the book because they are ones she told when she shared an office with me.

This book was a hard read for me because I knew how many of the experiences were hers.

If you read this book be aware that while it states that the names are changed, it is often to protect the guilty, not the innocent. The acadamies are still a tough place for women to survive as we continue to see in the news.

It has gotten better though, through the courage and efforts of officers like Sharon Disher, who had to be better than her counterparts to survive.

I still consider her the best officer I worked for in 21 years of civil service.

Respectfully,
Terrence N. Tallman
Naval Facilities Engineering Command

Rating:
Summary: This book is an exact of what a USNA experience feels like.
Review: Being a 1998 graduate of the Naval Academy, I can completely relate to Mrs. Disher's views on this book. I have read it five times now and felt every emotion in the process. I am angered at the treatment and how it is still evolving. I am happy that there are women (like me) who laugh and keep a sane attitude on the Academy. I am also relieved that someone so qualified as Mrs. Disher wrote such a moving book for everyone, USNA grad and not, to benefit from. I have only been away from USNA for a little over a year now, and I can claim that everything that happened in this book either happened to me, or to a fellow midshipman that I graduated with. This book has been stereotyped as a "feminist" book, but this book is about the United States Naval Academy. I liked this book so much, my sister read it (USNA, class of 2000). In fact, I believe in this book so much, my face is on the front cover. To all those that doubt the power of women and men getting along to succeed in defense of this country...you need to read this book and understand that only through adversity comes strength. Thank you, Mrs. Disher, for being courageous and coming forward with your tales.

Rating:
Summary: This book is an exact of what a USNA experience feels like.
Review: I enjoyed the book immensely and put it away in about 2 days. I have spent the next couple of days sorting feelings out on the characters, events, and feelings expressed. Having attended in the same Class, I recall pretty much 30 of the events mentioned. They are accurately accounted to a eerie fault. Being a male classmate, I can only guess at the feelings and conversations of the women characters. Still 18 years later though, the stories and events are still pretty fresh. It's an interesting and enlightening perspective on what my women classmates felt was important, vice what my male contemporaries thought was important. I guess that's attributable to expectations, sex, background and culture.

A extraordinary book for someone who shared some of the same events, but obviously not the same experiences. Probably could be better edited, and I'm not sure of the "legs" it has for those who are not familiar with the Yard. An excellent portrayal of the Academy at a critical moment of its history.

Thanks, Sharon.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but....
Review: I read and enjoyed this book but was disappointed by the fictionalisation of characters. Surely a first person account would have been account would have been more effective. But then again after reading what these brave women went through, I expect that a lot of them would have preferred to forget the less savoury times of their lives and an institution that reclutantly underwent one of the biggest changes in its history.

Rating:
Summary: A great, engrossing, insiders look, book
Review: Never having been to the Naval Academy, I was amazed at how they dealt with female classmates the first time around. This book gives you the day-to-day feeling of what it is like to be there and experience every order. I think that the author goes to great lengths to give you as much of the "hands on" feelings as is possible for each confronted situation. It is written in a diary set up, and covers obviously the most imp-ortant moments. I enjoyed the quick movement of the book, and the light airey handling of even the most embarrassing situations. These are real women confronted with an overwelming male oriented situation, along with a great number of men who have never had to deal with any women before. What happens is both funny, emotional and real. I would like to also deal a quick "good job" to the naval academy; who for all their formality, handled the first year with a minimum number of real complaints; and only a few real embarrassing or wrong decisions. I recommend this book for everyone interested in how a few determined women can stand up against tradition and the entire male student body of the academy, and still manage to graduate. My hats off to everyone in this case.

Rating:
Summary: wow...
Review: This is an incredible book - my new favorite, in fact. I'm not a midshipman at the Academy, though I thought seriously about it before deciding to go ROTC. I visited the Academy, and I saw so many of the experiences related in this book. While reading, it brought it all back to me. The story is not one just for the military type - it's a story about overcoming challenges, a story that anyone can take to heart. The best part of it is that in doing that, it doesn't make the characters perfect, but rather real people with faults and troubles. In fictionalizing the women in the class, it would have been easy to overlook the little problems, but Ms. Disher captures them perfectly. I had borrowed the book from a friend, but I'm going to go out and buy it so the story can continue to inspire me. Thank you!

Rating:
Summary: wow...
Review: This is an incredible book - my new favorite, in fact. I'm not a midshipman at the Academy, though I thought seriously about it before deciding to go ROTC. I visited the Academy, and I saw so many of the experiences related in this book. While reading, it brought it all back to me. The story is not one just for the military type - it's a story about overcoming challenges, a story that anyone can take to heart. The best part of it is that in doing that, it doesn't make the characters perfect, but rather real people with faults and troubles. In fictionalizing the women in the class, it would have been easy to overlook the little problems, but Ms. Disher captures them perfectly. I had borrowed the book from a friend, but I'm going to go out and buy it so the story can continue to inspire me. Thank you!