• Angela Koogler made US Navy submarine force history when she became "chief of the boat."
  • Now, she's gearing up for service aboard USS Louisiana, a nuclear missile submarine.
  • "We need to keep breaking down the barriers," Koogler said in a Navy statement this week.

The first woman in the history of the US Navy's Submarine Force to be "chief of the boat" is getting ready to head to sea after joining a submarine crew. 

Master Chief Information Systems Technician Angela Koogler is reporting for duty aboard a nuclear missile submarine as a member of gold crew, US Pacific Fleet's Submarine Forces revealed in a statement. 

Though it was announced this week, Koogler, a native of Ohio, was actually informed last year that she was selected to become the Navy's first female chief of the boat — an enlisted Sailor who serves as the senior advisor to a submarine's commanding or executive officer.

Two weeks ago, Koogler, a 20-year veteran of the Navy, joined the crew of USS Louisiana, one of the sea service's Ohio-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile subs, which carry nuclear-armed Trident missiles and serve as a critical leg of the US nuclear triad.

Tugs guide the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Louisiana (SSBN 743) to its berth at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor after the completion of a strategic deterrent patrol. Foto: U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Ed Early

"There have been challenges," she said in the Navy statement. "But you just have to keep going. There are going to be walls you have to knock down, but you can't let them stop you."

Women have served in the Navy since 1917, USNI News reported, but it took decades before they were allowed to serve alongside male counterparts. 

Female officers began serving on Navy submarines in 2011, the Navy said. The move preceded the integration of enlisted women Sailors in 2016.  

US Navy Master Chief Information Systems Technician Angela Koogler poses for an environmental portrait aboard the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Louisiana (SSBN 743). Koogler is the Navy's first female chief of the boat. Foto: US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian G. Reynolds

"We need to keep breaking down the barriers so that it just becomes all Sailors," Koogler said.

"A Sailor is a Sailor to me and we shouldn't have to define their gender," she continued. "It's important to integrate everybody and it shouldn't matter as long as they get the job done."

Koogler wants to achieve more than her historic first of becoming chief of the boat during her time in the Navy. She aspires to be a command master chief — or CMC — which is a senior leader who reports directly to a commander or commanding officer.

"Since my first command I've always wanted to be a command master chief," Koogler said. "Now that I've converted to the submarine force, I have to serve as chief of the boat before I can go into the CMC world, so this is just another stepping stone."

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