Stratton was sworn in as the first woman commissioned officer in U.S. Coast Guard history and first director of the Coast Guard Women's Reserve (SPARS).
On November 24, 1942, following President Franklin D. Roosevelt's authorization creating the Coast Guard Women's Reserve, Dorothy Stratton was sworn in as its first director, becoming the first woman ever accepted for service as a commissioned officer in the history of the United States Coast Guard.
Stratton had previously served in the Navy's WAVES program, but was recruited to lead the Coast Guard's newly formed women's branch. She coined the name SPARS, derived from the Coast Guard's motto Semper Paratus—Always Ready, giving the organization an identity that endured throughout and beyond the war.
As director, she oversaw the recruitment, training, and deployment of thousands of women who took on essential shore-based and administrative roles, freeing men for combat duty. Her leadership demonstrated the capability and necessity of women in military service at a time when women in uniform faced significant skepticism and institutional resistance.
This appointment was a watershed moment for women in the U.S. armed forces, opening a pathway that had never before existed within the Coast Guard. Stratton's example directly influenced subsequent policies on women's military service and cemented her legacy as a foundational figure in the integration of women into the U.S. military establishment.