By Taylor Boggs ’16, Perspectives Section Editor
The Army’s Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia, which opened in 1952, is a highly-demanding course that emphasizes strength and endurance and requires soldiers to overcome exhaustion and extreme anxiety in order to graduate; the soldiers have to undergo a physical fitness test which includes 49 pushups, 59 sit-ups, a 5-mile run in 40 minutes, six chin-ups, a swim test, a land navigation test, a 12-mile foot march in three hours, several obstacle courses, four days of military mountaineering, three parachute jumps, four air assaults on helicopters and 27 days of mock combat patrols. On April 20 of this year, the female graduates began the course alongside 380 male and 17 other female soldiers. This was the first class to include women. On Friday August 21, 2015, First Lt. Shaye Haver, 25, and Captain Kristen Griest, 26, became the first women in history to successfully complete the army’s rigorous Ranger School and to receive their Ranger tabs alongside 94 male classmates.
The course is made up of three phases: The Darby Phase (Fort Benning), the Mountain Phase (Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest), and the Florida Phase (Eglin Air Force Base). Each year roughly 4,000 students begin the Ranger Program and about 1,600 students, 40%, graduate. The course is a total of 62 days if it is finished straight through, but only a few complete the entire process in one try and thus many soldiers retake certain cycles. Out of the 19 females, only eight passed the initial assessment and all eight failed the first Darby Phase. After trying again, three made it through. The third woman who did not graduate was held back in the Mountain Phase but it is possible that she could also graduate at a later date.
This is a major breakthrough in the armed forces. This class ran as a trial to see if it was possible for women to pass the course. It is. The Army and other branches of the military are aiming to expand the possible positions for women in the service and to better integrate women into positions that they have not been able to previously hold. Secretary of the Army John M. McHigh said “This course has proven that every Soldier, regardless of gender, can achieve his or her full potential. 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.”
That being said, many problems still lie ahead for the Lt. and Capt. and women serving in the armed forces. Many commentators were skeptical about the fact that the women fairly completed the course under the same guidelines and conditions as their male classmates. Major General Scott Miller emphasized at the graduation ceremony that the women did complete the course under the same standards as their 94 male classmates: “Ladies and gentlemen … standards are still the same … a 5-mile run is still a 5-mile run. Standards do not change. A 12-mile march is still a 12-mile march.”
The two women also do not know what is in store for them. Even though they graduated with the Ranger tab, they are still not eligible to try out for the elite 75th Ranger Regiment or ground combat jobs which remain closed to women. This Special Operations Force is the next step for their male classmates. The Pentagon is planning to make a final decision about what combat roles women will be able to obtain and the gender neutral rules for the jobs that remain off-limits by September 30.
Haver’s and Griest’s accomplishment could very well inspire women to reach toward higher military positions. Likewise, their graduation is likely to increase society’s acceptance of women into the higher held positions. Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Ray Odierno stated, “The women in Ranger School are another example of, if they can meet the standard, they should be able to go, and they should be able to earn their Ranger tab. And I think that’s how we want to operate as we move forward.” After a few more trial runs, a decision will be made whether women will be permanently allowed to participate in the course.
The women made a point not to make standards for women and meet them, but to meet the men’s’ standards. When the women were asked if they ever thought about leaving the course Griest said, “I never actually thought anything was going to be too difficult that it was worth leaving the course,” and Haver said, “Seriously considering quitting throughout the course? I think I would be crazy to say if I didn’t. But the ability to look around to my peers and to see they were sucking just as bad as I was, kept me going.” Anybody could see their motivation and determination to finish the rigorous program. Odierno backs this up by saying, “The effort that they’ve put forward has been significant. They’ve impressed all that they’ve come in contact with. They are clearly motivated … and frankly, that’s what we want out of our soldiers.”
It is critical that the military standards were not changed for, but were met by the two women. The Pentagon has been making efforts to restructure the military to equalize gender standards. Some combat jobs are still off-limits which can be detrimental because in order to advance to certain positions combat experience is necessary. The completion of the Ranger Course was a small but key step to opening up new doors for women in the military and moving toward gender neutral rules that will allow women to hold the same elite positions that men are eligible to hold. The Army’s goal is to eventually open front-line combat units to women, without changing the standards. Although new areas have been opening up for women over the years, the infantry and special operations fields cause the biggest concern and are the positions that still need to be considered for women’s eligibility.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/18/politics/women-graduate-army-ranger-course/
http://blog.chron.com/intheloop/2015/08/first-women-to-graduate-army-ranger-school/
http://www.people.com/article/first-females-graduate-army-ranger-school
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/08/17/army-ranger-school-women-graduate/31887987/
