For the first time in history, two women will be among the 96 graduates of the elite United States Army Ranger School. On Friday, August 21st, Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver will become the first female soldiers ever to graduate from the Ranger course at Fort Benning, Ga, according to WashingtonPost.com. Both women are West Point graduates who withstood the gruesome weather, arduous hikes, sleep-deprived nights and simulated combat patrols that are designed to test their reaction time, teamwork and tenacity under fire, along with the other Rangers who went through the course, according to The Washington Post article.
This is the first year that the Army has allowed women to partake in the intense program on a trial basis and Griest and Haver were among 20 women (and 381 men) who started the program on April 20. As a test of their physical fitness, each candidate has to do 49 pushups, 59 sit-ups, and a 5-mile run all completed in 40 minutes. They must also be able to complete 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.
According to a CNN.com article, the women will not be joining their fellow male graduates in the 75th Ranger Regiment, because women are still not allowed to serve in that combat unit. The Pentagon isn't expected to make final decisions about what combat roles women will be allowed to fill until later this year. However, this achievement is still a huge step. These two soldiers have proven that women are in fact capable of meeting the extreme physical standards (and mental stress) that the rigorous course entails. These standards were not altered for the women who were taking part in the program. In order to graduate, soldiers need to perform many tasks under conditions with minimal food and little sleep that test both their physical and mental strength. Each candidate has to learn how to operate in different terrains ranging from mountains, to woodlands, to swamps. Congrats, Griest and Haver!
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