The Navy is commissioning its first Virginia-class submarine designed for a fully gender-integrated crew on Saturday. The submarine, named New Jersey, is entering the fleet 14 years after the ban on women serving on subs was ended in 2010. Female officers joined the submarine force in 2011, with enlisted sailors following in 2015.
The commissioning ceremony for the New Jersey submarine will take place in Leonardo, New Jersey, making it the third Navy vessel named after the Garden State. HII-Newport News Shipbuilding delivered the submarine to the Navy in April. Female trailblazers in the submarine community include Lt. Cmdr. Amber Cowan, who became the first woman to serve as an executive officer of a submarine in 2022.
Master Chief Information Systems Technician Angela Koogler also made history in 2022 by becoming the first woman to serve as a chief of the boat aboard a nuclear ballistic missile submarine. Plans are in place to expand the number of submarine vessels with women, with a new guidance calling for women officers to serve on 40 submarines, up from the original 30.
