Two Women Will Graduate From Army Ranger School For The First Time

In an historic ceremony set to take place this Friday in Fort Benning, Georgia, the U.S. Army Ranger School will award its first female service members with Ranger Tabs.

Mark Humphrey / AP

Two female soldiers will graduate from the Army's Ranger School Friday. In doing so, they will become the first women ever to don the coveted Ranger Tabs on their uniforms.

According to the Washington Post, the women will graduate alongside 94 male members at Fort Benning, Georgia. Their class was initially comprised of 380 men and 19 women.

The two history-making graduates have not been identified by the Army, but officials told the Post that they were both in their 20s and had graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.

The Post reported that while the commencement ceremony will indeed be an historic one, the graduating women will still not be allowed to try out for the 75th Ranger Regiment of the Rangers, as it entails an entirely different course.

The three-phase training that makes up Army Ranger school, and the physical fitness test that precedes it, is nonetheless grueling and candidates are typically weeded out in droves early on.

On April 20, the current graduating class began its first day of pre-phase training at the Ranger School. According to Military.com, three of the 19 women who began the course did not make it through the physical tests, which required them to do 49 push-ups in two minutes, 59 sit-ups in two minutes, and complete a five-mile run in 40 minutes.

Then began the official three-part course, which lasts 62 days, and took the students through Fort Benning, the U.S. Army Ranger headquarters, for the "Darby Phase"; then the Chattahoochee National Forest in northern Georgia for the "Mountain Phase"; and finally out to the Florida Panhandle for the "Swamp Phase."

By the time students surpassed the Mountain Phase on July 31, only two female service members remained, the U.S. Army noted.

The announcement added that one additional woman made it to the Mountain Phase, but did not pass. She will be given another opportunity to do so, and if she completes the second and third phases, she will be eligible for graduation, though at a later date.

On Aug. 17, the Fort Benning office announced that 94 men and two women had passed the final Swamp Phase in Florida and would graduate on Aug. 21.

In the statement, Army Secretary John McHugh congratulated the graduating class and said, "Each Ranger School graduate has shown the physical and mental toughness to successfully lead organizations at any level. This course has proven that every Soldier, regardless of gender, can achieve his or her full potential."

McHugh added, "We owe Soldiers the opportunity to serve successfully in any position where they are qualified and capable, and we continue to look for ways to select, train, and retain the best Soldiers to meet our nation's needs."

According to the Post, Retiring Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno told reporters at the Pentagon on Aug. 14 that officials were still deciding whether or not to allow women to join the Army infantry or armor units.

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