[Image via Nick Tomecek/Northwest Florida Daily News viaAP Images.].
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The Army plans to open another Ranger class to women in November, officials said. According to the Northwest Flo…
The Ranger class is set to graduate on Friday at Fort Benning. The day 1 recycle precedent has been in place for many years and is nothing new.
Captain Griest, along with First Lieutenant Shaye Haver, are the first two women ever selected to become Rangers.
“Asked what conclusion he drew from the success of the two female grads, Miller replied: “(They are) two solid soldiers, physically and mentally, Very capable, I draw that conclusion”.
Shaye Haver of Copperas Cove, Texas is one of two women scheduled to graduate on Friday from Ranger School at Fort Benning in Georgia.
The course tests the ability to overcome fatigue, hunger and stress during combat operations. That could change next year after the Pentagon makes its recommendations.
The women will wear the black and gold Ranger tab on their uniforms, signifying that they completed one of the military’s toughest combat courses and putting themselves in a better position for leadership roles. Marine Corps leaders, they say, have expressed concerns about allowing women to serve in infantry jobs and yet may seek an exception.
The pressure of paving the way for future generations was not lost on her, she said.
Among those marking the occasion will be Haver’s father, Christopher, a former Apache helicopter pilot and instructor who was once stationed at Fort Rucker with Company A, 1st/14th Aviation Regiment. The course is so rigorous, in fact, that only 40 percent of male soldiers in Ranger school ultimately graduate. “We ourselves came into this with our guard up just in case there were haters or naysayers”. That creates a tendency to believe the military ought to fully reflect the individual opportunities and practices of our broader society, rather than society appreciating that the “sharp end of the stick” that fights to protect us is organized along different lines. Companies made up of all men and mixes of men and women spent up to three months in California performing a broad range of unit tasks and going through detailed scientific evaluations to see how they did. I know how much it takes out of you. Curtis Arnold. “They do not quit and they do not complain”. Benning in Georgia, alongside 94 men who also completed the notoriously grueling course.
“You have to be the one who’s on top of things, who wants to get stuff done”, Haver told the Copperas Cove Herald newspaper. “So you’ve got to put out 110 per cent”. During the last of their three attempts, 364 soldiers started and only 96 finished. About 50% of students will pass this phase of the course, according to the Ranger School website.
Ranger School teaches soldiers combat skills, from standard patrols to raids and air assaults, while pushing the limits of the trainees’ physical and mental endurance. Because more than a quarter million jobs in the military were closed to her simply because of her XX chromosomes.
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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. “We’re on a track to say, ‘Hey, look, anybody who can meet the gender nonspecific standards, then you can become a SEAL, ‘” Admiral Greenert said.
