Women in the United States Navy

Admiral Michelle J. Howard became the first female four-star admiral in the U.S. Navy in 2014.[1] This also made her the U.S. armed forces' first Black woman to achieve four stars.[2]

Many women have served in the United States Navy for over a century. As of 2020, there were 69,629 total women on active duty in the US Navy, with 11,076 serving as officers, and 58,553 enlisted. Of all the branches in the US military, the Navy has the second highest percentage of female active duty service members (after the US Air Force) with women making up 20% of the US Navy in 2020.[3]

As of 2023, no woman has become a Navy SEAL. In 2019, a woman successfully completed SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection (SOAS), but opted to join another unit of the Navy.[4] She was among five women who had participated in the SOAS[5] screening process.[4]

In July 2021, the first woman graduated from the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) training program to become a Special Warfare Combatant craft Crewman (SWCC). The SWCC directly supports the SEALs and other commando units, and are experts in covert insertion and extraction special operations tactics.[6][7]

In November 2023, the United States Senate voted 95-1 to confirm Admiral Lisa Franchetti as Chief of Naval Operations, making Franchetti the first woman to be Chief of Naval Operations and, due to having that position, the first woman on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[8][9]

  1. ^ "Michelle J. Howard becomes Navy's first female 4-star admiral - Washington Times". m.washingtontimes.com. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  2. ^ Howard becomes Navy’s first woman, first African American four-star admiral - St. Louis American: Local News. Stlamerican.com (1 July 2014). Retrieved on 2014-07-25.
  3. ^ "2020 Demographics Profile of the Military Community" (PDF). Military One Source. Department of Defense (DoD), Office of the Deputy Assistant, Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy (ODASD (MC&FP)). 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b Seck, Hope Hodge (11 December 2019). "The First Woman Has Made it Through SEAL Officer Screening". Military Times. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. ^ SEAL Officer Assessment Selection
  6. ^ Ives, Mike (16 July 2021). "First Woman Completes Training for Elite U.S. Navy Program". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Naval Special Warfare Welcomes CQT Class 115; First Woman Operator". DVIDS. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  8. ^ Lamothe, Dan (2 November 2023). "Senate confirms three more senior military officers around Tuberville blockade". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference auto6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).