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Thursday marks the 90th anniversary of women winning the right to vote. It's perhaps the most meaningful of all milestones in the drive for equal rights. Still, one area where gender continues to impose real limits on women is in the military. But, that appears to be changing.

Earlier this year, Congress amended federal law and began allowing female officers to serve aboard submarines. 19 trainees were selected and could eventually become commanders at sea.  KPLU's Bellamy Pailthorp has this profile of one of those trainees.

Bellamy Pailthorp / KPLU

Ensign Amber Pfeifer

For women in the Navy, serving on submarines is almost the final frontier.

Now, females are only barred from two branches of the Marine Corps: the Navy SEALS and the Riverine forces, both of which engage in direct combat.

A graduate of the University of Washington is one of the pioneering young officers who will be the first to spend several months submerged with a mixed crew in a submarine.

Amber Pfeifer: "Since I can remember, I wanted to be in the military. And I was going to do it one way or another."

22-year-old Amber Pfeifer says her ambition to serve in the military started early. She grew up in Colorado, but spent most summers in Port Angeles, which she calls home. When she was 15, one of her uncles took her to a firing range in the woods.

Amber Pfeifer: "I remember crying the first time I shot a gun, but then immediately asking to do it again, because I knew it was something I wanted to know how to do – and do well."

Pfeifer is a force to be reckoned with. She earned straight As in high school and played varsity soccer. With long blond hair, wholesome good looks and a quick smile, she seems like the kind of young person who could do anything she wants.

She says the decision to serve in the military came to her, like a calling. Both of her grandpas were Air Force veterans and her dad had served in the Navy.

Amber Pfeifer: "We're a very patriotic family and I think, I just came to the realization that I'm able to do all of these wonderful things. But I feel like I need to give something back."

She'll do so aboard a submarine.

In April, Congress approved a long-awaited plan lifting the ban on women serving underwater. The Navy found a way of accommodating female officers on the largest subs without expensive renovations. One state room each on four boats will be reserved for women. The bathrooms will be shared with a simple flip sign.

Commander Mark Henderson, the executive officer of Pfeifer's ROTC program, says it's high time.

Mark Henderson: "I think it's good that the submarine service is finally going to benefit from the diversity that the other half of the population can bring to the fight."

Submariners are a unique breed. Much like astronauts, they're often cut off from outside help. The technical training is rigorous. They have to know how to operate and maintain nuclear power sources. And they have to be okay with not seeing land or sunshine for weeks or even months on end, more than 800 feet under the sea.

Pfeifer says the idea took some getting used to.

Amber Pfeifer: "I've honestly heard that most of the crew might not know where they are at any point in time, because it's not a 'need to know' thing."

But interestingly – the close quarters of such an assignment appealed to her. With only about 150 sailors on board, submarines foster a close knit community that requires high standards. She says a tour she took of one early on in her training left a lasting impression.

Amber Pfeifer: "You have to know what you're doing. There's not anybody else to take up the slack if you don’t know how to do your job well. There's not that many people and there's just the same amount of work. So, I really liked that fact, that everybody was really highly trained and really focused on their job and capable, competent people."

Still, she says it took her about a month of hard contemplation to decide if this was really right for her. She turned to her favorite grandfather for advice.

Amber Pfeifer: "I said, 'I don't know if I want to do it.' And my grandpa looks and me and he goes, 'do you trust anybody else to do it?' And I said, 'well… no. I want to do it. I want to make sure that it's done right.'"

She says she's not concerned about something that makes many Navy wives nervous: close quarters and narrow passageways.

The Navy says there will be some refresher training on sexual harassment for crews receiving women for the first time. But it's not something they haven't dealt with before.

Stephanie Miller directs the Navy's Office of Women's Policy.

Stephanie Miller: "We have women who are on ships that are even smaller. We have women on frigates, on coastal patrol craft, on mine hunters and mine sweepers. So these issues certainly do come up."

But, Miller says, as in any professional setting, sailors learn to deal with it.

Stephanie Miller: "There's just a kind of an etiquette, if you will, of passing through small corridors and just as with any office environment, you learn to kind of give somebody a heads up in terms of making your way through those confined spaces."

Ensign Pfeifer says she's already experienced that kind of thing on board the 44-foot sailboats where she's trained for the ROTC. She says her biggest challenge ahead will be training in nuclear propulsion and submarine technology.

Amber Pfeifer: "Diving into the math and the chemistry and all that will be a challenge for me. But I also think it's going to be extremely rewarding when I make it through. And when I get my orders for my first boat I know I'm going to be – beside myself."

That assignment could bring her back to the Northwest.

The first submarines with women on board will be stationed in King's Bay Georgia and here at Bangor near Bremerton.

They'll set sail in 2012.