Woman makes history as 1st female sailor to complete the grueling Navy special warfare training
A female sailor completed the grueling 37 week training course to become a U.S. Navy special warfare boat operator. These are the people who operate the boats that transport U.S. Navy SEALs while conducting their classified missions at sea.
This impressive lady was one of 17 sailors to graduate and receive their pins. It is standard military policy for special operations forces to keep identities confidential and she’s no different.
Eighteen women tried out for the job, but she was the first to successfully complete the training as a special warfare combatant-craft crewman (SWCC) or a SEAL.
Considering that only 35% of the men and women who train for the SWCC graduate, this feat is truly impressive.
Rear Adm. H.W. Howard III, commander of Naval Special Warfare, said:
“Becoming the first woman to graduate from a Naval Special Warfare training pipeline is an extraordinary accomplishment, and we are incredibly proud of our teammate. Like her fellow operators, she demonstrated the character, cognitive and leadership attributes required to join our force.”
Fourteen out of the eighteen aspiring candidates didn’t make it while the remaining three are still in training in the hopes of becoming SWCC or SEALs.
After an initial recruitment process by boot camp, training to become a combatant craft crewman begins.
There is a two-month preparatory course, a three-week orientation at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California, then seven weeks of learning basic navigation and water skills, physical conditioning, and safety.
And if you think that’s tough, it’s nothing compared to the final stage.
It is a 72 hour ordeal called “The Tour,” a challenging event designed to test everyone’s grit and physical toughness. Even men have failed this part of the training.
The lucky ones who pass go on to seven more weeks of basic crewman training.
This is where these future soldiers learn combat, weapons, and communications training. Add to that the fact that they will undergo a seven-week intermediate-level seamanship course then finally, survival, evasion, resistance and escape training, and a cultural course.
The female sailor’s graduation gave hope to all female applicants especially considering the fact that it was only five years ago that all posts were open to women.
She will now head to one of Naval Special Warfare’s three special boat teams.
“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,” Howard said.
Naval Special Warfare says that around 300 sailors complete the SWCC course annually. So you’re looking at between 760 and 800 in the force at any time. And perhaps in a few years, there will be more women.
No one knows who she is but everyone is super proud of this young lady. To be frank, no one is allowed to know anything about her either. Except for the fact that she’s cool, tough, and a total inspiration.
Click on the video below for more on this female sailor!
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