CORONADO, Calif. – Candidates of Crewman Qualification Training (CQT) Class 115 completed Naval Special Warfare’s (NSW) assessment and selection pipeline to become Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC), earning their pins and graduating, Thursday, July 15, 2021, the Navy Special Warfare Command said in a release.
Graduates of any NSW assessment and selection pipeline have met the rigorous standards to enter their chosen profession, demonstrating they possess the character, cognitive and leadership attributes required to join the force. Historically, about 35 percent of SWCC candidates make it to graduation.
Among the 17 graduates is NSW’s first woman operator. The SWCC assessment and selection pipeline challenges candidates through adversity, always upholding validated, gender-neutral and operationally relevant standards.
“Becoming the first woman to graduate from a Naval Special Warfare training pipeline is an extraordinary accomplishment, and we are incredibly proud of our teammate,” said Rear Adm. H. W. Howard, commander, U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command. “Like her fellow operators, she demonstrated the character, cognitive and leadership attributes required to join our force.”
Following graduation, the newly minted SWCCs will report to either a Special Boat Team or follow-on training. The continuum of qualification and training over the course of an NSW operator’s career includes continuously advancing skills in core and additional competencies.
SWCC are experts in covert insertion and extraction, utilizing a unique combination of capabilities with weapons, navigation, radio communication, first aid, engineering, parachuting and special operations tactics.
Naval Special Warfare Center, located on Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, provides initial assessment and selection and subsequent advanced training to the Sailors who make up the Navy’s SEAL and Special Boat communities. These communities support the NSW mission, providing maritime special operations forces to conduct full-spectrum operations, unilaterally or with partners, to support national objectives. For more information on the NSW pipeline, visit https://www.sealswcc.com/.
