Women yet to smash glass ceiling of elite Navy SEALs unit: Report

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No woman has been able to break through the glass ceiling and earn the elusive title of Navy SEAL, with the two most recent candidates failing to successfully complete the grueling training process and earn their SEAL Trident. 

"Although neither were selected for a contract, female service members and civilians have a rich history of service within NSW (Naval Special Warfare), and their diverse talents and capabilities will continue to evolve and professionalize the NSW force," a Navy spokesperson said, according to a Thursday Military.com report.

Two women were offered SEAL contracts, the first step in a long and challenging process to becoming a Navy SEAL, in 2019 and 2020, but both were forced to exit the training pipeline early, according to the report. The spokesperson would not tell Military.com which stage the female candidates were unable to pass, citing the "integrity of Naval Special Warfare Center courses and the privacy of its candidates."

The Department of Defense opened all military occupation specialties to women in 2016, a move that has resulted in many female troops enlisting in or transferring to combat jobs previous generations of women were not allowed to pursue.

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Navy SEAL candidates, participate in "surf immersion" during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California. (MC1 Anthony Walker/U.S. Navy via AP, File)

However, entering the U.S. military's elite special operations' community, which has physically demanding training to prepare for some of the military's most grueling missions, has proved to be elusive for most women.

There are currently three women in the training pipeline to become special warfare combatant craft crewmen, a group tasked with operating boats that transport SEALs on missions. There have been 13 women in total who have attempted to pass that course, with one completing the course to earn the honor of becoming the first female NSW operator.

The first group of women graduated from Army Ranger School in 2015, while three women have passed the U.S. Army's Special Forces Qualifications Course, resulting in the first female Green Beret in 2020. 

A soldier from the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School checks a compass while completing a land navigation course during Special Forces Assessment and Selection near Hoffman, North Carolina, May 7, 2019. (Ken Kassens/U.S. Army via AP)

The Air Force graduated its first female special tactics officer earlier this year.

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However, no woman has been able to finish the training pipeline to become a Navy SEAL.

A total of eight women have participated in the SEAL officer assessment and selection process since it was opened to females in 2015, with only two being selected to enter the training pipeline. However, both women were unable to complete the training.

Navy Capt. Jason Birch, a former commanding officer of SEAL Team 10, told the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services panel Tuesday that the Navy has increased its outreach to potential female special warfare candidates in recent years, including by placing female instructors in the Navy Special Warfare Training Center. However, outreach has been limited by a lack of female candidates making it through the grueling training.

A group of Navy SEAL trainees. (Charles Ommanney/Getty Images)

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"Obviously, we can't have [female] SEALs go out to the industry, because we don't have any yet, so it has to start somewhere," Birch said.

The Navy did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.