“He said, more or less, ‘you have people who will question the standards of Ranger School. So I had that pressure on myself”.
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He went to “every single person just in a line – no order”.
That was more than two decades ago. Their achievement has been accompanied by a Wednesday announcement from Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, that the service will soon open its elite training school for SEALs to women as well.
“Clearly, these two soldiers are trailblazers”, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters Thursday.
“I was pretty skeptical”, said 2nd Lt. Michael Janowski, who was Haver’s Ranger “battle buddy” in the course’s mountains and the swamps. West Point has added lacrosse as a varsity sport for next season, as a lure to recruit the tough brand of women who will fill those jobs.
Women in combat is a controversial proposition.
(AP Photo/John Bazemore) However, the female soldiers are not able to apply for the 75th Ranger Regiment, because of their gender. “In this day and age, when information is instant, we take our responsibility very seriously to ensure everyone understands what all of these soldiers went through”. Everyone I have talked to is of one mind. Gen. Scott Miller said no one should doubt that all 96 graduates met Ranger standards, regardless of their sex, and he congratulated them on proving their mettle.
Both Griest and Haver graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York – the former in 2011 and the latter in 2012, according to Kimberly A. McDermott, communications director for the West Point Alumni Association. He noted she chose to become a military police officer because she felt it was the closest she could get to an army combat job. Mark Kirk, R-Ill.
Among some veterans and servicemembers, the issue remains controversial. “Especially these two. I’d have no qualms about serving with them in combat”.
“It’s awesome to be part of the history of Ranger School“, said Lt Haver. But their presence, proven and earned in some of the most strenuous military training there is, is an important step for our country and its armed services.
MARGARET WARNER: For all the praise, Captain Griest and Lieutenant Haver are not eligible to actually join the Ranger regiment.
U.S. Army Rangers demonstrate everything from rappelling, to crawling across a tightwire ahead of graduation, August 21, 2015.
In 2003, Ernst served as a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq with the Army Reserves. “I got a lot of deer-in-the-headlight looks and guys were like ‘I can’t handle any more weight, ‘” he said.
Griest’s and Haver’s accomplishments are significant in their own right, but what is especially heartening is the generational connection they feel to the women who will follow them.
In a joint statement Wednesday, the families of Griest, 26, and Haver, 25, said the women were “just like all the soldiers” in their graduating class: “happy, relieved, and ready for some good food and sleep”. “I wish them the best”. I also happen to be a woman.
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“They actually are shocked when they learn that women aren’t already doing this kind of stuff – the idea that they themselves would not be allowed to do it”, Davidson said this week.
