This year’s commissioning ceremonies at the United States Navy Academy marks a significant milestone, as among the graduating class are the first females who will make history and become the first women to serve in submarines. In attendance at the ceremonies was Vice President Joe Biden, who did not fail to recognize the significance of the occasion, as shared in a report by The Associated Press.

Biden addressed these trailblazing women, amid cheers from the graduating class and their parents: “Nothing, nothing, is beyond my daughter and granddaughter’s capacity, and you’re demonstrating that.”

Among the parents in the audience is a woman who knows exactly what it is like to be among the chosen few. Sharon Disher was one of the 55 first female graduates of the Academy in 1980. She was now back at her alma mater to witness the commissioning of her daughter Alison and her son Brett, who both belong to the class of 2010.

AP quoted Disher: “We went through a lot 30 years ago, but everything we went through, it’s all been worth it now… We were constantly fighting that argument, where today the women can pretty much do everything now except for SEALs, so it’s so much better in that respect and men are so much more accepting of the women.”

There were 219 women and 809 men who constituted the class of 2010 of the U.S. Naval Academy. There will be a total of twenty women who will begin a 15-month training program to become submarine officers. They are expected to report for submarine duty in the year 2012.