Posted on Mar 13, 2016
First Female Navy SEALs Could Get Assignments In 2017
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The first female enlisted Navy SEALs could be assigned to units next fall, and the first female SEAL officers could be in place by 2018, a newly approved Navy implementation plan shows.
The 50-page plan was made public on Thursday, March 10, after the Pentagon announced that all services’ plans to open previously closed combat and special ops positions to women had been approved. The announcement means the services can now begin training, recruiting and assignment to place female troops in previously closed jobs.
According to the document, the first enlisted female sailors could enter the Naval Special Warfare training beginning with the prep course at Great Lakes, Illinois, in May, complete qualification September 2017, and undergo unit assignment the following month. For officers, the earliest possible scenario would see women entering training December, completing qualification in January 2018, and receiving assignments the following month.
For special warfare combatant-craft crewmen, an enlisted-only position, women could begin training as early as May and undergo assignment as soon as March 2017.
“These dates were determined using best-case scenarios for the [Naval Special Warfare] operator pipeline assuming qualified application packages are received by the prescribed deadlines…and there are no delays,” Rear Adm. Brian Losey, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, wrote in a memo that introduces the implementation plan. “Most likely, start dates would shift to the next consecutive class number.”
He added that attrition and set-back rates would also play a role in how quickly women can enter these elite communities. SEAL officers have a 65% success rate; enlisted SEAL candidates have a 28% success rate; and SWCC candidates have only a 38% success rate, Losey said. Eighty percent of all students in SEAL and SWCC training pipelines experience a performance or medical setback that delays their progress, he said.
The Navy’s plan describes lessons learned from the entry of women into the Navy explosive ordnance disposal and Navy diver communities. Officials warn that newly opened NSW positions will see relatively low interest from women and lower success rates.
Female EOD officers make up just 2.5% of the total EOD officer population, the document states, while enlisted female EOD personnel make up just 0.9% of their community. Only 0.6% of Navy divers are women.
Planners also warned against applying a quota system to fill newly opened positions with women, saying that quotas used in the past go unfilled and that they result in less-qualified candidates and “contribute to higher female attrition rates.”
A better solution is a gender-blind selection process, the plan states.
At the Navy’s Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California, the plan recommends increasing female staff by a factor of five in order to ensure female sailors entering the community have opportunities to be successful.
For the Navy’s elite Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school and other elements of the NSW pipeline, planners found the introduction of female students would require very little added infrastructure.
The plan recommends spending $175,000 to install security cameras at BUD/S barracks and another $100,000 for shower and bathroom facilities for female sailors.
At BUD/S, the Navy proposes “open bay” barracks facilities for male and female students, with privacy partitions built in to create gender-specific bathroom facilities.
Losey maintained the Navy’s commitment to maintaining rigorous standards for Naval Special Warfare as the service opens the community to women.
“Any deviation from the validated, operationally relevant, gender-neutral standards would undermine true integration, disrupt unit cohesion, impact combat effectiveness, and be a disservice to those exceptional candidates willing to test and serve against the required and validated standards,” he wrote.
The first female enlisted Navy SEALs could be assigned to units next fall, and the first female SEAL officers could be in place by 2018, a newly approved Navy implementation plan shows.
The 50-page plan was made public on Thursday, March 10, after the Pentagon announced that all services’ plans to open previously closed combat and special ops positions to women had been approved. The announcement means the services can now begin training, recruiting and assignment to place female troops in previously closed jobs.
According to the document, the first enlisted female sailors could enter the Naval Special Warfare training beginning with the prep course at Great Lakes, Illinois, in May, complete qualification September 2017, and undergo unit assignment the following month. For officers, the earliest possible scenario would see women entering training December, completing qualification in January 2018, and receiving assignments the following month.
For special warfare combatant-craft crewmen, an enlisted-only position, women could begin training as early as May and undergo assignment as soon as March 2017.
“These dates were determined using best-case scenarios for the [Naval Special Warfare] operator pipeline assuming qualified application packages are received by the prescribed deadlines…and there are no delays,” Rear Adm. Brian Losey, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, wrote in a memo that introduces the implementation plan. “Most likely, start dates would shift to the next consecutive class number.”
He added that attrition and set-back rates would also play a role in how quickly women can enter these elite communities. SEAL officers have a 65% success rate; enlisted SEAL candidates have a 28% success rate; and SWCC candidates have only a 38% success rate, Losey said. Eighty percent of all students in SEAL and SWCC training pipelines experience a performance or medical setback that delays their progress, he said.
The Navy’s plan describes lessons learned from the entry of women into the Navy explosive ordnance disposal and Navy diver communities. Officials warn that newly opened NSW positions will see relatively low interest from women and lower success rates.
Female EOD officers make up just 2.5% of the total EOD officer population, the document states, while enlisted female EOD personnel make up just 0.9% of their community. Only 0.6% of Navy divers are women.
Planners also warned against applying a quota system to fill newly opened positions with women, saying that quotas used in the past go unfilled and that they result in less-qualified candidates and “contribute to higher female attrition rates.”
A better solution is a gender-blind selection process, the plan states.
At the Navy’s Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California, the plan recommends increasing female staff by a factor of five in order to ensure female sailors entering the community have opportunities to be successful.
For the Navy’s elite Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school and other elements of the NSW pipeline, planners found the introduction of female students would require very little added infrastructure.
The plan recommends spending $175,000 to install security cameras at BUD/S barracks and another $100,000 for shower and bathroom facilities for female sailors.
At BUD/S, the Navy proposes “open bay” barracks facilities for male and female students, with privacy partitions built in to create gender-specific bathroom facilities.
Losey maintained the Navy’s commitment to maintaining rigorous standards for Naval Special Warfare as the service opens the community to women.
“Any deviation from the validated, operationally relevant, gender-neutral standards would undermine true integration, disrupt unit cohesion, impact combat effectiveness, and be a disservice to those exceptional candidates willing to test and serve against the required and validated standards,” he wrote.
First Female Navy SEALs Could Get Assignments In 2017
Posted from taskandpurpose.comPosted in these groups: Navy SEALs Women in the Military
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 7
Posted 8 y ago
I want this to succeed for the women and the Armed Forces. Maybe after they establish themselves we can stop making barriers to service and allow everyone who wants the chance to be whatever they can be. They want to be equal, then allow them to try. Allow them to fail equally as men. Acknowledge their successes when they make it, and not try to degrade it as "standards were lowered", or "females don't belong here". CPT M said before the standards cannot be lowered. She's 100% right. I'm No Sailor, but they have my support!
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
8 y
SSG Warren Swan well said and I agree whole heartily. You are wordsmith with words and I enjoy your post enthusiastically and I know many more would agree.
CSM Charles Hayden SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" CPT (Join to see) LTC Stephen F. MAJ Ken Landgren
CSM Charles Hayden SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" CPT (Join to see) LTC Stephen F. MAJ Ken Landgren
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SN Greg Wright
8 y
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL - SSG Warren Swan Interesting term, 'word smith'. Almost like it's true, Warren!! :)
On a serious note, I'm in total agreement with you.
On a serious note, I'm in total agreement with you.
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Posted 8 y ago
As long as they pass. There will be some that do.
When I was in A school, I thought I wanted to be a SEAL. My class leader was a Teams guy. I knew I was doomed when I tried to swim for a PFT instead of run. It was horrible. I learned my limitations quickly. The women will have to as well. At the end of the day, not everyone is cut out for the job.
When I was in A school, I thought I wanted to be a SEAL. My class leader was a Teams guy. I knew I was doomed when I tried to swim for a PFT instead of run. It was horrible. I learned my limitations quickly. The women will have to as well. At the end of the day, not everyone is cut out for the job.
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SN Greg Wright
8 y
PO3 David Fries Hah. They came around to my boot camp class (they did that back then, at least in '88) and asked who wanted to try the pre-qualification phys tests. I popped right up, full of piss and vinegar, and was totally smug as I passed the swim, run, and sit-ups, crushed the push-ups...and then failed miserably at the hanging pull-ups. At 220 pounds (I know that sounds like I was fat, but I wasn't. I'm just a big guy), I would have had to train for that, specifically, and I didn't. Faceplant!
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Posted >1 y ago
My view is; when is it enough of the gender neutral, PC, everybody can do any job in the military??? QUIT ALREADY WITH THE "3 CARD MONTE FIND THE RED QUEEN SHUFFLE" to get women into some rolls that, face it, are a pain in the ass to get them there at the expense of other programs. I love women, but I am so glad I served during 70's & 80's. when it was just men on combat ships, and in SPECWAR. You ain't never gonna make everybody's ass happy, so quit trying, OK now go ahead and freak out; re-post till your fingers bleed;I don't care.
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