She is one of the first women in the history of the United States Armed Forces to be appointed to a three-star grade, the first in the Marine Corps.

Her last active duty assignment was as Deputy Chief of Staff, Manpower and Reserve Affairs (DC/S, M&RA) at Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In 1971, she returned to Quantico as a platoon commander and instructor for women officer candidates and basic course lieutenants; she departed this tour as a captain.

On September 1, 1996, Mutter was promoted to lieutenant general and assumed the duties as Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (DC/S M&RA).

Mutter also attended the Amphibious Warfare School and the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, both at Quantico, Virginia.

[5] During the George W. Bush administration, Carol Mutter was a member of the American Battle Monuments Commission[6] and chair of the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.