From a self-described high school party girl to a Marine Corps major general, Angela Salinas’ life story is built around breaking barriers and mentorship.
"When I graduated from high school to be perfectly honest, I realized that I was probably good at one thing. I was good at partying,” Salinas told AARP’s Reporting For Duty, a YouTube series that highlights the struggles veterans face after coming home and what they do to overcome those barriers.
Salinas, who is now an executive with the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, said a military career wasn’t on her radar when she went to mail a letter in 1974. As she arrived at the post office, a Marine recruiter walked out of his nearby office and had a question for her: Why wasn’t she a Marine?
“I, of course, look at him at a 19-year-old and said look, buddy, I am just trying to mail a letter,” recalled Salinas. “I met him on the 30th of April and by the 7th of May, I’m in Parris Island, South Carolina meeting my drill instructor and I’m standing there thinking what have I done?”
At the time, the nightly news was full of Vietnam War protest stories and women were not being actively recruited by the military services.
“I’m joining an organization who doesn’t want me,” she said. “But once you earn that title of Marine, no one can take that from me.”
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Salinas said becoming a Marine changed her life.
“That moment in time is the transformation of an entire lifetime,” she said.
Salinas said basic training began in a segregated environment.
“We were kind of like a separate corps within a corps,” she said. “You’re doing makeup. How do you carry your purse wearing gloves? I mean, lipstick had to match the color of the cap cord.”
Salinas’ first assignment found her at Fourth Recon Battalion in San Antonio, where she was the only woman and worked as an administrative clerk.
“I’m in my little skirt and when I checked in, the Marines’ eyes like bugged out of their head,” she said. “They called Headquarters Marine Corps and said hey, you asked for a clerk. We sent you a clerk.”
Women were barred at the time from doing certain jobs in the military and could not be sent into combat.
“There were no aspirations coming in to ever be a general,” said Salinas. “I always said if I could make it to corporal, that would be the apex of my career.”
The Marine Corps then began realizing service is not about gender, culture or ethnicity.
“This is just about leadership,” said Salinas. “I was very blessed, because women were stepping up.”
Then, in 1978, Margaret Brewer became the first woman promoted to brigadier general in the Marines. Salinas had attained the rank of captain by 1985 and found a role model in Gail Reals, the Marines’ second female brigadier general and the first woman to command a Marine base.
“What was phenomenal about Gail Reals was she’d come up through the ranks and cracked the concrete ceiling,” said Salinas. “Not even a glass ceiling, but that was like rock-solid concrete. Everyone, enlisted and officers, saw her as a role model. She’s a rock star.”
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Four years later, in 1989, Salinas became the first female Marine to command a recruiting station in 1989. In 2006, she became the first Hispanic woman promoted to brigadier general in the Marines.
While serving as commanding general, Salinas recalled when a congresswoman stopped by and asked a young corporal what they thought about a woman being in charge. The corporal said, “We have a commanding general, and nothing has changed.”
“I think that’s the highest tribute you can say, when the Marine Corps chose the best qualified to be here, and that’s what we’ve got,” added Salinas.
Salinas retired in 2013 after 39 years of service and would become CEO of the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas.
“People think that Girl Scouts is all about cookies, camps and crafts,” she said. “But the reality is, our Girl Scouts is about character, confidence. This is about women and resilience.”
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Today Salinas creates opportunities for girls every day by helping them grow and accomplish their dreams.
“You can’t change the status of women if you’re not addressing the challenges of girls,” she said.
Salinas believes social media is one of the challenges girls face today because it makes them grow up to quickly and prevents them from being themselves.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.