Navy Prepares Submarines for 1st Female Officers

HARTFORD, Conn. — The first female Navy officers selected for duty on submarines are on track to join their boats beginning later this year.

The Navy says it is not treating them any differently from men receiving the same training, but officials have been working to prepare the submarine crews for a dramatic cultural change.

The initial class of 24 women will be divided among four submarines, where they will be vastly outnumbered by men.

The female officers, many of them engineering graduates from the Naval Academy, are accustomed to being in the minority and so far they say they hardly feel like outsiders.

Ensign Peggy LeGrand of Amarillo, Texas, says she is thrilled at the opportunity although she feels the women's mistakes and successes will be magnified more than they deserve.