A sailor has become the first female Navy special warfare operative after a grueling 37 weeks of training. To be specific, she is a Naval Special Warfare combatant-craft crewman, the boat operators who transport Navy SEALs and conduct top-secret missions at sea.

The identity of the women is classified — a standard military policy for special force operatives. She is the first of 18 women to start and finish training to become an SWCC or a Navy SEAL. On Thursday, July 16th, she was one of 17 sailors to graduate and receive their pins.

Combat Posts Opened To Women 

Five years ago, all combat posts opened to females for training. Now she will be on her way to one of the Naval Special Warfare’s three special boat teams.

“Becoming the first female to graduate from a Naval Special Warfare training pipeline is an extraordinary accomplishment. We are incredibly proud of our teammate… Like her fellow operators, she demonstrated the character, cognitive, and leadership attributes required to join our force. She and her fellow graduates have the opportunity to become experts in clandestine special operations. As well as manned and unmanned platforms to deliver distinctive capabilities to our Navy, and the joint force in defense of the nation,” said Rear Adm. H.W. Howard III, the commander of Naval Special Warfare.

Becoming Navy Special Ops

According to the Navy, only 35% of the men and women who train for SWCC graduate. Of the 18 females who trained to become Navy special operatives, three of them are currently in training, one to become an SWCC and the two others to become Navy SEALs. However, the other 14 did not complete their training.

To put it in perspective, the Naval Special Warfare department says only about 300 sailors complete the SWCC training every year out of the hundreds that apply.

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