Both are officers and alumnae of West Point; they are expected to speak to the media for the first time on Thursday, the Washington Post reports. The military services have pledged to do so without compromising standards.
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Students at Ranger School attend the Mountain Phase course based at Camp Frank D. Merrill in northern Georgia.
The assessment has drawn a high level of scrutiny, with many questioning whether the Army is lowering its standards for the elite school, which until now has been open only to men, while many others have cheered on the female students. The female candidates and their male Ranger buddies plan to sit down for interviews the day before the event. The program admitted women as “part of an effort by Pentagon leaders to determine whether women can be assigned to ground combat units in both the Army and the Marine Corps”.
During the course, students learn how to operate in three different environments: woodlands in Fort Benning, Georgia, mountainous terrain in Dahlonega, Georgia, and coastal swamp in Eglin AFB, Florida.
The women started the regimen in April, but like many men they were required to retake a phase of the course if they didn’t pass on the first go. Eight women successfully completed RAP week; however, all were recycled into Ranger Class 07-15 as Darby inserts for a second attempt at patrolling. Under a 2013 directive from then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the military services must open all combat jobs to women by next year or explain why any must stay closed.
Previously, no woman had ever been able to graduate Ranger School.
The course is 61 days for students who complete each phase on the first try.
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The two male students declined to recycle, officials said.
