Year Honored: 2021
Birth: 1946-
Born in: Maryland
Biography
Rear Admiral Marianne Blackburn “Mimi” Drew joined the Navy in 1967 and for 38 years worked in an operational military environment, consistently the first woman to serve in a variety of jobs. After numerous command assignments, in 1998 she was selected as the first female line Rear Admiral in the Naval Reserve.
During her years in the Navy, she led the Navy’s war on the designer drug Ecstasy; implemented the Navy College Program, combining distance-learning and off-duty education from accredited colleges, permitting Sailors to earn college degrees while deployed; and, after the 9-11 attack on the Pentagon, she served simultaneously as Commander, Naval Reserve Readiness Command Mid-Atlantic, mobilizing 10,000 Naval reservists for Operation Enduring Freedom, and as Deputy Director of the Navy Staff, planning for alternate wartime headquarters.
In addition to her military assignments, during the first Gulf War Mimi Drew was Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Force Support and Families, where she helped craft, and even named, the landmark military health insurance program – TRICARE – three military Services caring for their beneficiaries. In 2003, she began speaking on leadership and continued using her leadership skills to benefit others through volunteering in Delaware. She was President of Lord Baltimore Women’s Club, raising over $10,000 yearly in college scholarships; a popular speaker at Hugh O’Brien Youth (HOBY) Leadership Seminars; and leads annual inspirational women’s retreats. She also served as President of the military charity, Air Warrior Courage Foundation.
In 2004, Mimi and her husband Phil (Brigadier General Philip M. Drew, USAF (Ret.), moved to Bethany Beach. Their daughter Campbell served in the USAF and is married to Lt. Col. Sam Kraemer, USAF, with three children – Daniel, Hope and Kaitlyn -- and their son, Major PC Drew, USMC, and his wife Lisa, have two children – Nathan and Mackenzie.
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Sources and Additional Reading
Drew-marianne. DREW-MARIANNE | The United States Navy Memorial. (1946, August 10). Retrieved October 7, 2021, from http://navylog.navymemorial.org/drew-marianne.
- Collections: 2021, Delaware Women Firsts