Master Chief Yeoman Anna Der-Vartanian
Master Chief Anna Der-Vartanian became the first woman in the U.S. Armed Forces to be promoted to the rank of master chief in 1959. In 1943, Der-Vartanian joined the U.S. Navy as an apprentice seaman in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). She served at Great Lakes, Illinois, Naval Station Treasure Island, the Public Information Office in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the Parachute Rigger and Aerograph schools at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, and other administrative roles. Following promotion to master chief, she became the first woman to serve as chief clerk in the Office of U.S. National Military Representative, SHAPE, in Paris, France. She then served at the Legal Office at Naval Station Washington before her retirement from the Navy in 1963 with 20 years of service.