The two unidentified soldiers, both graduates of New York’s Military Academy at West Point, were part of a group of 19 women who started the course when it was opened to women for the first time in April, USA Today reported. Each branch of the military has until this fall to come up with recommendations on why women should not be allowed to fill certain roles.
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“Congratulations to all of our new Rangers”, Army Secretary John McHugh said in a statement.
There are already emerging signals on how some of the services plan to proceed.
The training has been watched closely as the military adjusts its policies on female service members. They will graduate during Friday’s ceremony at Ft. They must provide a rationale for each position they want to keep restricted, and the defense secretary will ultimately decide whether to approve requests for exemptions.
“We are committed to opening positions and occupations where and how it makes sense”. Some critics have alleged the women were granted more lenient treatment, a charge the army denies. All of that will inform Pentagon decisions about the future role of women in traditionally all-male units.
Two women received a passing grade in the mountains during platoon level combat patrols and moved on to the Swamp Phase on August 1. The Marine Corps, which is 7 percent female, is the least integrated of the services and has been the most resistant to change.
The Pentagon lifted the ban on women in combat in 2012, but kept other front-line jobs off-limits. He insisted throughout the process that the hard standards not be lowered in any way to make it easier for women to pass the course. Ninety-six students successfully completed the course and earned the Army Ranger tab. “An expert in short-notice combat deployments, the Ranger Regiment is a rapidly deployable strike force and is the largest special operations combat element in the U.S. Army”. There will be more women in another Ranger class that begins in November. But senior Army officials have insisted that is not the case, and opened Ranger School to media for a few days during each phase to underscore the point and allow Ranger instructors and others involved in their evaluation to speak.
What is the 75th Ranger Regiment? It took the women four months to complete the training. They include concerns about privacy and mental toughness. “But if a woman is in good physical condition, I think the edge that men have can be lessened quite a bit”. “They’ve shown they can do it”.
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The ranger tab unequivocally garners high respect in the American military world-only 3% of US army soldiers have it, according to Christian Science Monitor reporter Anna Mulrine, who covered this year’s ranger training and spoke with National Public Radio on August 16.
