Some of the first female submariners to serve aboard subs following the lifting of the Navy ban on women serving on submarines are proving that women can be just as at home serving underwater as their male counterparts.

A report on the Kitsap Sun newspaper in Washington State shared that the women submariners have felt accepted among their crews, and that they fit right in.

Among them is Lt. j.g. Megan Bittner, who is serving in the submarine Ohio. She shared: “The men adjusted to us being there, and we adjusted to them… It was quick. There were no big problems. No stumbling blocks along the way. It was just learning as a junior officer how you fit on the boat.”

The 24-year-old is one of 13 women who have been assigned to two Trident submarines based at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor – the cruise-missile-carrying Ohio and the Maine. Bittner shared further: “It is important we are talking about our experience, not so much to say look at us but to show this is not the big ordeal some people thought it was, that it hasn’t been the mistake some people projected it to be.”

Lt. j.g. Amber Cowan, a main propulsion assistant serving aboard the Maine, on the other hand, shared: “It’s definitely a different kind of atmosphere… You’re always working. You don’t see the sun every day. You’re adapting to a new routine, learning everything you need to know, getting to know everybody.”