recent nomination of len lou ten naent janet wolf en burger to air force comment and rear admiral sandy stokes selected to become the superintendent of the u.s. coast guard academy, by the way, the first woman to lead a service academy. these are all perfect examples. these women have obviously risen to the top. but there are still lingering disparate at the higher echelons. in the three components of the army, for example, although the ratio of female soldiers is 17%, for general officers, 10% of us are female. that's in part due to the restrictions that remain in place. so as we look to the future, the coming years promise to be very exciting for women in the military as additional barriers are removed and women continue to assert themselves and are afforded opportunities in positions critical to our nation's defense. the good news is, flag officer selection rates along with other selection and promotion rates for women continue to increase. although we must ensure the best candidates are always selected for senior level positions regardless of gender, the goal and mission of every woman her