As of March 2026, there are no female Navy SEALs currently serving in the U.S. Navy. While all combat roles, including the elite Navy SEALs, were officially opened to women in 2016, no female candidate has yet successfully completed the grueling Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training and subsequent SEAL Qualification Training (SQT) to earn the coveted Trident. The training pipeline is famously difficult, with an attrition rate of over 80% for all candidates. A few women have entered the program and made significant strides; for example, in 2021, a woman successfully graduated from the Naval Special Warfare training pipeline for the first time, but as a Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman (SWCC)—a highly specialized role that supports SEAL teams—rather than a SEAL operator. The Navy maintains a gender-neutral standard for the program, meaning that while the door is legally open, every candidate must meet the exact same physical and mental benchmarks, which include "Hell Week" and extreme underwater endurance tests, to qualify for the teams.