The Navy’s top admiral said Tuesday the service plans to open the Navy SEALs up to women, so long as they can pass the rigorous training regimen.
“Why shouldn’t anybody who can meet these [standards] be accepted? And the answer is, there is no reason,” Adm. Jon Greenert told Navy Times. “So we’re on a track to say, ‘Hey look, anybody who can meet the gender non-specific standards, then you can become a SEAL.'”
Greenert did not provide a specific timeline for when the SEALs would officially be open to women.
The announcement comes just a day after two women—from the first cohort to ever enter the course–will graduate the Army’s Ranger School. (RELATED: Two Female Ranger Students Set To Graduate)
As the end of the year approaches, the services are moving quickly to prepare themselves for opening all combat positions to women.
While the Navy has previously indicated that it planned to open all combat roles to women, it was unclear whether the SEALs would constitute the one exception to the rule. But following a review headed by Rear Adm. Brian Losey of Naval Special Warfare Command, it appears that, pending final approval, women will be allowed to sign up for six-month SEAL training.
Not all the services intend to proceed in exactly the same lockstep fashion. Some believe the Marine Corps will seek an exemption to keep ground combat jobs exclusively male.
Whether the SEALs will attract a lot of women is another question. For now, there are only seven women divers—about .61 percent. And only 10 women are part of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.
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