First woman graduates Navy training for Seals, other units

The first woman has completed the U.S. Navy’s Special Warfare training, making her eligible for joining elite commando units, such as the SEALs.

In its announcement, the Pentagon said the unnamed woman was among 17 graduates of Crewman Qualification Training Class 115 that finished the Naval Special Warfare evaluation, the Navy said on Thursday.

The woman successfully completed the 37-week training program to become a special warfare combatant-craft crewman.

Of note, the Navy says only 35 percent of those who begin the training endure through graduation.

In 1973, women accounted for 2 percent of all enlisted U.S. military personnel and 8 percent of officers. Those figures had risen to 16 percent and 19 percent by 2018.

“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,” Rear Adm. H. W. Howard III, commander of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command, said in a statement.

“Like her fellow operators, she demonstrated the character, cognitive and leadership attributes required to join our force.’