The Pentagon initially opened up combat jobs to women in 2016.
A female National Guard solider is the first woman to earn the title of Green Beret after completing the Army Special Forces training this week.
Although the woman’s identity has been withheld for security reasons, officials said she did attend a socially distant graduation with her 400 other service members and was given her Green Beret at the ceremony.
The Pentagon initially opened up combat jobs to women in 2016 and those included jobs the Special Operations community. The Green Berets was reportedly one of the last Army groups without any women.
“From here, you will go forward and join the storied formation of the Green Berets, where you will do what you are trained to do: challenge assumptions, break down barriers, smash through stereotypes, innovate and achieve the impossible,” aid Lt. Gen. Francis M. Beaudette, the commander of the Army’s Special Operations Command, said at the ceremony, according to The New York Times.
“Thankfully, after today, our Green Beret men and women will forever stand in the hearts of free people everywhere.”
With more than 6,700 Green Berets currently enlisted, the soldiers are often used for specialized combat and counterterrorism operations. Currently, around 70,000 troops in the Army approximately 470,000 troops in total are women.
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