 In observance of Women's History Month, we take time to reflect on one of the most historically significant events in naval history. Petty Officer Amar Timberlake takes us on a journey to the past when women were first admitted into the Naval Academy. There, one of the Naval Academy's first female midshipmen, Sharon Henley Discher, tells us her story. In 1975, Congress passed the Stratton Bill that said all service academies would become coeducational. In July 6, 1976, a 131-year all-male tradition at the United States Naval Academy ended as 81 women entered as the first female midshipman. One of those original midshipmen remembers the challenges. The combat exclusion law was still in play, so here we were being trained to be combat leaders and that's not what we could become once we graduated. And the guys harbored a lot of resentment because we'd taken the place of someone who could. The women were very similar to the men entering the academy. They were considered strong athletes and leaders and had strong backgrounds in math and science. Given that there were only 81 of us and we were dispersed three to a company among 36 companies and then throughout the whole brigade, it was really hard for us to have contact with one another. The courage, dedication and exemplary service of the early women graduates opened the door for future naval officers. The challenges conquered by the early female graduates set the stage for the excellence shown by the female midshipmen today. You know the other day I gave an award to a woman who got a 4.0 grade point average, 7 over 8 semesters here and when you see that kind of caliber of women coming here, it makes all the things that we had to go through, it just makes it all worthwhile. From the Defense of Media Activity, I'm Petty Officer Matthew Halls.