Interview with PSC Sandy "Grandma Gunner" Mitten, USCGR
Q: Where were you born? Tell us about where you are from, something about your family and education.
Mitten: I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I stayed here (in Milwaukee) until I was 18 and then I joined the regular Navy. I was in for just a couple of years. As far as my family is concerned, I have 3 children and 4 grandchildren. As far as my education, after I turned about 30 I decided that I needed to go to college, so I ended up getting an Associate Degree in Horticulture. So that’s my education.
Q: So you when did you go into the Navy?
Mitten: I went in the Navy in 1959 and got out in early 1961. I had married an navy man. He was a nuclear weapons man on the [USS] Kitty Hawk. We were stationed in several different places around the United States. I ended up having two children with him and we did end up divorcing. I remarried a few years later to another military man and I had a third child, my youngest son who just turned 40 this year.
Q: What did you do before you joined the service?
Mitten: I was in high school, basically.
Q: Did you enlist or were you drafted? If you enlisted, tell us why you chose the Coast Guard?
Mitten: I did enlist. Well what happened was I joined the Navy right out of high school. Then when I decided to go back into the Navy Reserve, I was back here in the Milwaukee area and I called around to recruiters and they said that because I was over 30 and because I had more than 10 years out of service and because I had three dependents under 18, that would be too many waivers for the Navy. So they suggested that I go to the Coast Guard. So I called the Coast Guard up while I was working third shift at Briggs and Stratton at that time and I went down to the recruiting office in the morning when I got off and they said, “Do you want to take a test?” I said, “Well you’ve got to understand that I’ve been up all night.” They said, “That’s all right. If you don’t pass, we’ll do all over again.” So anyway, I took the test and I passed. It was just a general knowledge test. And so they asked me what I was interested in. And I said, “Give me some ideas.” They handed me a leaflet with the port security rating had just opened up in 1973 to females. So the recruiter asked me, “Do you like boats?” I said, “Yeah.” They said, “Do you like the water?” I said, “Yeah.” They said, “How about Port Security?” I said, “Give me the brochure, I’ll take a look at it and I’ll let you know.” I called them the next day and told them that would be pretty good as far as I was concerned. With that, I went to my first duty weekend at the Marine and Navy building across from the Coast Guard station at the lake front.
Grandma Guns at her 50 cal in a USCG, 22-foot Raider with PSU 303 based at the Port of Dammah, Saudi Arabia
Q: And that was regular Coast Guard?
Mitten: No, that was Coast Guard Reserve. I went into the Coast Guard Reserve, June 21 1974 and I retired September 17, 2001.
Q: You said you were in the Navy for two years. What did you do in the Navy?
Mitten: Well, I went through recruit training, of course. And my first and only duty station happened to be NOB Norfolk, VA. I was awaiting radioman school because I wasn’t going to be a yeoman, which was alright with me. I didn’t want to be (a yeoman). I wanted to be a radioman. While I was awaiting the school, they put me in the legal office at NOB and I was basically a seaman, doing second and third class work in the legal office. And I enjoyed that while I was there.
Q: So you joined the reserve and you joined in June 21st, 1974. And you said you had a choice of what you wanted to go into, and you chose port security?
Mitten: I went into the port security rating and when I went into the Coast Guard Reserves, I went in as a seaman, because (and I didn’t have to go through any training) I came from the Navy. When you go into the Coast Guard, whether the regular or reserve, if you’ve been in the Navy, it’s the same training, basically. So I went in as a seaman and I just worked my way up over time and I retired as an E7 Chief.
Q: Where did you go for your training?
Mitten: One weekend a month, during the winter, we were always as the Naval Reserve Center. In the summer, because I was in port security I ended up getting involved in small boats and I went to small boats school in Alameda, CA and became a coxswain. So I had all kinds of ongoing training depending upon pretty much what I wanted to do.
Q: So you became a coxswain. How long did it take you to become a coxswain?
Mitten: Well, it probably took me a little longer than normal, because, unfortunately there was a discrimination and it was really between the regulars and the reserves. And we happened to have a regular chief who as stationed at Station Milwaukee (I have no idea what his name was anymore) who just didn’t want to see a woman become a coxswain. And I happened to be the first female coxswain in the Milwaukee area. After he left…and I was a 3rd class, so I came in as a seaman, after I was in for 3 years, I went to small boats school so I could become a coxswain. Then I returned to our local area to qualify and I did all that.
Q: Was the small boat training thorough?
Mitten: Oh yes.
Q: So you felt you were sufficiently prepared when you reported for your duty station?
Mitten: Oh definitely. Small boats school in California…I don’t know what it’s like now, but I can only surmise that it’s probably pretty much the same. It was a lot of hours studying in the classroom, and a lot of water time too, in the boats on San Francisco Bay. It was real cool.
Q: When you went to small boats school, were there other women in your group?
Mitten: No. I was the only woman going through that training at that particular time.
Q: Did you know if there had been other women to go through the training prior to you?
Mitten: Not in Milwaukee, but there were some from other parts of the country.
Continue With Interview At Segment 3: Active Duty
