Two Women Set Records in Navy SEAL Training Pipeline

Two women attempting to qualify as Navy SEALs advanced further through the military's rigorous training pipeline than any female candidates before them. They entered Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL, or BUD/S, training at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in California several weeks ago. Although they did not ultimately complete the demanding course, their progress marked a historic achievement in the program.

One candidate was an enlisted sailor, while the other was a naval officer. Both reached the third week of training, a stage that precedes the infamous Hell Week. The officer was rolled back to a subsequent class and eventually requested to leave the course before Hell Week began. The enlisted sailor was medically withdrawn during Hell Week itself.

This performance sets a new benchmark for women in the program since special operations units opened their doors to female candidates in 2016. CBS News has withheld the names of the candidates for security and privacy reasons. Reaching this point is significant because nearly 45 percent of all candidates are removed or rolled back during the initial weeks before Hell Week, according to Navy data compiled between 1998 and 2023.

Hell Week is a five-and-a-half-day endurance test designed to push candidates to their physical and mental limits. It begins in the middle of the night, and participants receive only about four hours of sleep over the duration. Tasks include carrying logs, launching boats into rough waves, lying in cold ocean water, and running approximately 200 miles.

A spokesperson for Naval Special Warfare Command stated that the command does not discuss individual selection statuses or pipeline details to protect the integrity of the courses and the privacy of candidates. Historically, women have served in special operations roles since World War II, gathering intelligence and coordinating raids for the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the CIA.

Policy changes over the decades have expanded opportunities for women in combat roles. The Risk Rule, adopted in 1988, was rescinded in 1994, though an exclusion for direct ground combat below the brigade level remained. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta removed these gender-based restrictions almost two decades later, allowing women to try out for Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, and Green Berets by 2016.

Navy data indicates that the overall attrition rate for the SEAL training pipeline is about 68 percent. The highest rate of removal occurs during the first seven-week phase, which includes Hell Week, where 66 percent of candidates are removed or rolled into another class. Despite its reputation, more candidates drop out during the weeks preceding Hell Week than during the week itself.

Since 2016, thousands of women have joined infantry and armor units, but relatively few have attempted elite special operations training. Only a handful have successfully completed these rigorous programs in the last decade. In 2021, a sailor became the first woman to graduate from the Naval Special Warfare training pipeline as a Special Warfare Combat Crewman.

Outside of naval special warfare, women have also made strides in other elite units. Seventeen women have attempted to become Marine Raiders, though none had passed as of 2024. In the Army, fewer than ten women have earned the Green Beret, and fewer than a dozen have joined the 75th Ranger Regiment. Former Captain Hailey Gibbons, who completed Ranger School in 2021, noted that every member of the regiment must pass the same grueling tests regardless of their specific role.

The progress of these two women has occurred against a backdrop of ongoing debate within the military community. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has questioned the inclusion of women in ground combat and special operations roles, suggesting that physical standards may have been lowered. However, Gibbons countered that standards have remained high, arguing that brigade commanders would not sign off on lowered requirements for fear of being viewed as less trustworthy.