MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. -- The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team has welcomed its first female operator.

• Manatee County Sheriff's Office welcomes 1st female SWAT operator
• Amy Holmes, 25, is also the agency's youngest

Amy Holmes, 25, started working at the Sheriff's Office in 2016 and says she always dreamed of doing more.

“The moment I graduated from the academy, I knew I wanted to be on the SWAT team,” Holmes said.

It's a feat many officers told her was impossible. 

“They would say, 'you know, they don’t want a girl', and 'they wouldn’t accept a girl,’ but the people saying that, were never on the SWAT team,” Holmes said. 

But that never got in her way. 

“She is truly a pioneer,” Sheriff Rick Wells said. 

After months of training, Holmes became the first female SWAT team operator, and also the youngest.

“There was no way I was going to fail,” Holmes said.