Navy Announces First Sub Officer Assignments for Women
(October 22, 2010) |
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| WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2010 – Two dozen women will begin
reporting to four submarines by the end of next year,
marking a new milestone in the 110-year history of the
submarine force, Navy officials announced today.
Six female officers each will join the crews of the USS
Wyoming, USS Georgia, USS Maine and USS Ohio, Navy Submarine
Group 10 officials announced in a news release.
Three female officers will be assigned to each of the subs'
two crews.
The Wyoming and the Maine are nuclear-powered ballistic
missile submarines, and the Georgia and Ohio are
nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines. Submarines of
these two classes are assigned two full crews, known as blue
and gold crews, which rotate between sea and shore duty to
maximize the time a submarine can spend in its assigned
area.
Two of the women in each crew will be submarine officers,
and the third female officer will be a warfare-qualified
supply officer. They will be assigned to their first
submarine duty station after nuclear power school, prototype
training and the Submarine Officer Basic Course. They are
expected to report to their assigned submarines beginning in
December 2011.
Navy Lt. Rebecca Rebarich, the submarine group's public
affairs officer, said today the new submarine officers were
commissioned through the U.S. Naval Academy, ROTC programs
and Officer Candidate School. All 24 women have been
identified and will join their new crews at about the same
time pending successfully completing their training.
Submarine Group 10 is commanded by Rear Adm. Barry Bruner,
who leads the Navy's Women on Submarines Task Force.
The Navy's integration of women into submarine crews has
been under way since Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates
notified Congress in February the service wanted to add
women to its submarine crews. Following a congressional
review, Navy officials announced April 29 they would begin
accepting women's applications for submarine officer
training.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, a former Navy surface warfare
officer, declared his goal of integrating women into the
submarine forces soon after taking office in May 2009. Adm.
Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, seconded Mabus's
initiative. The admiral said in a statement released in
September 2009 that his experience commanding a mixed-gender
surface-combatant ship makes him very comfortable
integrating women into the submarine force.
The Navy first allowed women to serve on surface
noncombatant ships in 1973 and on surface combatant ships in
1993. | |
By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010
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