The crew of the USS Indiana, a Virginia-class, fast-attack submarine that spent three weeks in the seas near the North Pole during Operation Ice Camp 2024, were awarded the Navy’s Arctic

The USS New Jersey "is the first Virginia-class submarine designed and built for a full gender integrated crew," according to Naval Sea Systems Command.

The crew was the first to receive the new medal, which was created last year for missions sailing under Arctic ice.

The USS New Jersey, the first fast-attack Virginia-class submarine in the Navy to fully integrate mixed gender crews, was commissioned in a traditional ceremony Saturday at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Middletown,