The U.S. Navy has reportedly introduced ts first submarine built to be “fully gender integrated.”
The USS New Jersey was commissioned Saturday at a ceremony at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Middletown, New Jersey, Fox News reported.
“You operate the most complex platform on the planet and you continuously strive for excellence,” Cmdr. Steve Halle told the submarine’s crew in a speech. “I’m amazed and humbled at what we have accomplished.”
“Our superior professionalism is enhanced by our crew integration and our diversity,” Halle added. “We have exceeded expectations at every turn and overcome every obstacle set before us.”
Before the USS New Jersey, no other U.S. submarines have been designed to house women and men.
In January 2024, the U.S. Navy made headlines when it lowered its enlistment standards, removing the high school diploma or GED requirement.
“The decision follows a move in December 2022 to bring in a larger number of recruits who score very low on the Armed Services Qualification Test. Both are fairly rare steps that the other military services largely avoid or limit, even though they are all finding it increasingly difficult to attract the dwindling number of young people who can meet the military’s physical, mental and moral standards,” Military.com reported at the time.
“Under the new plan, Navy recruits without an education credential will be able to join as long as they score 50 or above on the qualification test, which is out of 99. The last time the service took individuals without education credentials was in 2000.”
Vice Adm. Rick Cheeseman, the Navy’s chief of personnel, said over 2,400 interested people were allegedly turned away last year for not meeting the education standards.
“We get thousands of people into our recruiting stations every year that want to join the Navy but do not have an education credential. And we just turn them away,” Cheeseman said.
“I’m hoping all my recruiters have called all 2,442 of them in the last 72 hours, and we’ll see how it goes … We’ll try to get some test takers this weekend,” he continued.
