have been on active duty for at least six months; commit to an 18-month tour; have a clean record; be in excellent mental and physical health; agree not to request leave to visit the mainland, and verify they had no dependents whose care might necessitate a trip back to the mainland. In addition, members were expected to have a stable personality, sufficient skill to fill one of the billets for which women had been requested, and motivation to do a good job. San Diego, California, became the staging area, where a short yet intense physical conditioning course was given. The first contingent of women arrived in Hawaii on 28January 1945. At mid-year, there were about 1,000 women serving in Hawaii. By January 1946, they were all back on the mainland. Fatal accidents Between February 1943 and September 1946, eighteen women reserve members were killed, the majority of them in off-duty automobile accidents. Only three members were killed while in the performance of their duties. On 1 October 1945, four members from the ElToro Air Station died when the automobile they were riding in was hit by a train near Irvine, California. Corporal Nancy Engwall and Anna McDougall (rate unknown) were killed instantly, while Corporal Virginia Ruth Spalding and Private Shirley Kilian died later at the Long Beach Naval Hospital. Second Lieutenant Mary Rita Palowitch and Corporal Germaine C. Laville, Aerial Gunnery Instructors, were teaching at the Cherry Point Air station, when a civilian cleaning crew accidentally started a fire in their building. Initially, Laville escaped, but returned to the blaze after she heard others scream for help. Both Palowitch and Laville perished in the fire. Laville was cited posthumously for her bravery. Demobilization At the end of the war, the task of demobilization fell to Colonel Katherine A. Towle, the second director of the Reserve. In December 1945, the Reserve was down to about 12,300 members, with expectations of reducing this number by 2,000 each month thereafter. The demobilization plan called for mandatory resignation or discharge of all Reserve members by 1September 1946. Separation centers were set up at San Diego, San Francisco, ElToro, Parris Island, and Lejeune. In early 1946, there was speculation that legislation to give women permanent status in the military was being considered, which prompted the Marine Corps to relax its demobilization policy. Then on 15June 1946, the wartime office of the Reserve was closed when