Carol Mutter: A First for Women in the Military

Mutter was born in 1945 in Greely, Colorado. In 1967 Mutter graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education and completing the Woman Officer Basic Course at Marin Corps Base Quantico, Mutter was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and assigned to data processing installations at Quantico and Camp Pendleton. In 1971 she became a platoon commander and instructor for women officer candidates and basic course lieutenants at Quantico.

Mutter went on to earn a M.A. degree in National Security and Strategic Services from the Naval War College and has a M.S. degree and an honorary doctorate.

Throughout 1973-1984 Mutter’s military experience included leadership positions in logistics, data processing, financial management, personnel administration and research, development and acquisitions. Mutter rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel while working for various departments like the Marine Air Command and Control Systems and other Marine Corps departments during this time.

In 1985 she had years of expertise in data processing and financial management and was assigned first as the Deputy Program Manager then the Program Manager for the development of automated pay and personnel systems for active-duty, retired and reserve Marines.

Later Mutter served on committees in NATO, was assigned to the U.S. Space Command, and served a total of five years in Okinawa, Japan.

In addition to being the first woman nominated by the President of the United States for a three-star rank, Mutter holds many “firsts” for a woman in the U.S. military including: first woman to qualify as a crew commander/space director at U.S. Space Command; first woman of general/flag rank to command a major deployable tactical command; first woman Marine Major General.

In 1996 President Bill Clinton promoted Mutter to the three-star rank of Lieutenant General.
Her military medals and decorations include: the Defense Superior Service Medal, National Defense service Medal with bronze star, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with four bronze stars. Mutter has also received a slew of non-military awards for public service, leadership and patriotism.

Mutter retired from the Marines in 1999 after 32 years of service. Her position at the time was Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (DC/S, M&RA), Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C. In this position Mutter was responsible for many aspects of the quality of life for soldiers.

In 2008 Neah Power Systems, Inc, a developer of fuel cells for military application and portable electronic devices announced that Ret. Lieutenant General Carol Mutter and Colonel James Mutter were named to the company’s Strategic Advisory Board.