Out of the 22 Navy officers just promoted to admiral, none were women

The Pentagon’s latest set of Navy promotions, advancing more than 20 Navy captains to one-star admiral, included zero women, reinvigorating a debate about the barriers women face in their climb to the highest rungs of the military.

Last week, the Pentagon released a list of 22 appointments by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of Navy captains to rear admiral, lower half, which are one-star flag officers at the O-7 paygrade.

Promotion from captain to admiral is the first of the flag ranks among the naval officer corps, and is the most selective for officers in the Navy.

The list released last week continued a year-long trend of women in the service not moving up to flag officer ranks. A review by Task & Purpose of Pentagon promotion lists found that the last time the Navy promoted a woman from captain to rear admiral was last June, when three women were among 15 captains given their first star. Since December 2025, 29 men have been promoted or assigned to new positions as admirals. 

According to March Defense Department personnel data, about 15% of active duty Navy captains are women, or roughly one of every seven. However, only one of every 20 active duty admirals is a woman.

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Source: Task & Purpose
Website: taskandpurpose.com