First female officers headed to subs feel blessed

The first female U.S. Naval Academy graduates who will be able to serve as officers aboard submarines said Thursday they feel ecstatic, thankful and blessed by the chance to break one of the military's last gender barriers.

So far, eleven female midshipmen have been accepted into the Navy's training program. Several talked about how their hopes and aspirations went from the buzz of possibility to thrilling reality.

"I didn't want to get excited yet," Midshipman Abigail Gesecki, of Nanticoke, Pa., recalled when she first heard that a policy change to allow women to serve on subs was under consideration.

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