One woman could be the first to join the Navy SEALs

The Navy SEALs are one group that's still lagging when it comes to gender equality, but one woman has put herself in a position to change that.

The unidentified enlistee is the first woman to step forward and apply to join the Navy's elite special operations force, CNN reported. She's joined by another woman, also unidentified, who's hoping to land with another spec ops force: the Navy's Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen (SWCC).

Their identities are confidential to protect their hoped-for future careers as special operators, a spokesman told CNN.

Women weren't allowed to serve in combat roles for the U.S. military until early 2016, but none have applied for these special operation roles in the year-and-a-half since then.

Though the two women haven't officially landed the jobs yet -- they face the same challenging, months-long regimen as male cadets -- but the fact that they're training with the SEALs this summer is notable on its own.

As CNN pointed out, 73 percent of aspiring SEALs don't make it through training, which is designed to filter out the "weak." Of about 1,000 candidates who start training every year, 200 to 250 make it all the way through.

It feels like these women could make the cut. 🙏🙏