U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus says that allowing women to serve on submarines is “an idea whose time has come” — and he said he sees no big hurdles to making it happen.
Mabus gave no timeline for when women could begin serving, saying several steps must first be taken. They include devising an implementation process, notifying Congress of the plan and having the prospective female submariners complete the required nuclear training.
However, he said he and other top officials believe “women should have the ability to serve throughout the Navy,” and he sees no major impediments to their becoming submariners.
A Navy spokesman said women have never been allowed to serve on U.S. submarines. It wasn’t immediately clear how many women might be interested in joining the program or what the policy change might cost. U.S. submarines often serve for months underwater on distant patrol stations where they monitor movements of shipping and submarines of foreign navies.
Mabus, a former Mississippi governor who served in the Navy, voiced support for the change during earlier this week during an appearance on cable TV’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” His comments Thursday followed a tour of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s yard in Pascagoula. (AP)
