7 Mar 1994 – For the first time in the US Navy’s history women are assigned orders aboard a combatant ship, the USS Eisenhower. The historic assignment came as military and civilian leaders reassessed the overall involvement of women in combat after the Gulf War. Later that year in October the Eisenhower would depart for a six-month deployment, the first time women would be a part of a combat deployment on a US Navy ship.
11 Mar 1916 – The USS Nevada is commissioned into the US Navy. The Nevada was the first super-dreadnought and was a leap forward in the design of the dreadnought class of ship. The ship was the first in the US Navy to have triple gun turrets, a design that would be included on nearly all battleships afterwards. She was also the largest ship built up to that time in the Navy, with an initial tonnage of 27,500 and an overhaul during WW2 would increase that to 30,500. The USS Nevada would serve in both world wars, protecting convoys during WW1 and was at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. She was the only battleship to get underway during the attack, even after suffering damage from multiple bombs and being hit by a torpedo. The damage caused the ship to sink to the bottom of the harbor, she would be salvaged and modernized afterwards. She would serve in the Atlantic, including during the Normandy invasion and make her way back to the Pacific to serve in multiple battle including Iwo Jima. After the war the Nevada was determined to be too old for the active fleet in the Navy and used as a target at Bikini Atoll for atomic bomb experiments.
13 Mar 1942 – Julia Otteson Flikke of the US Army Nurse Corps becomes the first women promoted to Colonel in the Army. Though her promotion in 1942 was temporary she would gain the rank and privileges in 1947. She would serve in both world wars, having joined the Nurse Corps in 1918 where she would be assigned to a hospital in France. After her time in France she would serve in the Philippines and China as well as spending time at Walter Reed General Hospital.