CWO3 Rose Franco (born 1932 in Guanica, Puerto Rico) was the first Puerto Rican women to become a Chief Warrant Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Rose Franco was born and raised in Ensenada, a county of the city of Guanica, located by the Bahia de Guanica (Guanica Bay) in the southern part of Puerto Rico. She was born into a very poor family, but unlike many children at the time, Rose finished her primary and secondary education. Rose went to college for a brief period of time, were she took classes in business administration.
With the outbreak of the Korean War, Rose surprised her family by announcing that she was leaving college to join the United States Marine Corps. Her family protested, because they believed that a women's destination was to get married and to raise a family as a housewife. Rose, however had her own ideas and felt that it was her patriotic duty to serve in the armed forces. She wanted to follow in the footsteps of Cpl. Maria Torres Maes, who during World War II, became the first Puerto Rican woman to join the Marines. In 1952, at the age of 20, Rose enlisted and was sent to Camp Lejuene in North Carolina where she underwent basic training. Upon graduation, she was sent to Camp Lejuene in North Carolina for advanced training. After finishing her advanced training, Rose was assigned to the duties of administrative supply assistant at Camp Pendleton in California.
In 1956, she completed her four year enlistment and returned to Puerto Rico where she went to work for Pan American Airlines. She found her office job in the airline boring and soon she went and re-enlisted again in the Marines. She was assigned to the First Marine Corps District in Garden City, Long Island, New York. After two years there, she was sent to work as an administrator in Parris Island.
In 1965, Rose was named Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, Paul Henry Nitze by the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer by the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy. She reported to work in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.. At that time, she was only one of 11 women Warrant Officers in the Marine Corps. Rose held various important positions in the Pentagon during her career.
Rose Franco retired from the Marine Corps in 1977 with the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3 and returned to Puerto Rico where she currently lives.
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