Two Women Make History by Passing Army's Elite Ranger School

NBC News ^ | 8/17/2015 | Nick Tomecek

[sparklite2]

For the first time ever, two women have successfully completed the Army's elite Ranger school, one of the toughest combat training courses in the world, the Army said Monday.

The female soldiers weren't identified beyond being described as West Point-trained officers. They were among 96 soldiers who will graduate Friday at Fort Benning, Georgia, with the coveted Ranger tab, the Army said.

(snip)

Unlike the 94 men who will graduate Friday, the two women won't be allowed to apply to join the join the 75th Ranger Regiment, the elite Special Operations force.

It remains closed to women.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

I don’t believe for a second that they did not lower the standard.Not for a second.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

You can take that to the bank.

[aft_lizard]

There is. Those listed are the minimum, they expect you to do more. If it looks like you are trying to skate by on minimums well you may not pass evals.

[DesertRhino]

depraved

[Cronos]

Exactly. They are tough enough

[TangibleDisgust]

Flunking them would have ended a number of careers.

you speak the truth

[TangibleDisgust]

As so many have said for so many years, put them in their own all-woman infantry unit. Then send them against the enemy on their own, with no other combat units as crutches and no Hollywood-like video presentations by special operations units, when the opportunity is presented. In other words...no more sleight-of-hand or other deceptions for duping our civilian populace.

won't work. one of the scams of a coed military is that lots of female soldiers just happen to get pregnant right before deployment and thus end up avoiding deployment altogether.

[x1stcav]

I’m 64 years old. I do 50 pushups a night. When I was a grunt I could do many more. 49 pushups and 6 pullups seems a bit on the light side fro Ranger school.

When I was in Benning OCS in '69 the standard was 25-50 pushups for any minor infraction. I agree that 6 pullups seems light.

[mikefive]

I guess having a 2 star general as one of your lane walkers on a patrol is standard now, along with having 30 female “minders” tagging along. The females definitely were held to different standards, that’s why they were allowed to recycle twice in the same phase (Camp Darby). They definitely were held to different standards, and before anyone tries to give me the BS that they were held to the same standard, I went through Ranger School in ‘85 as a 19 y/o private out of 2/75 and it kicked my ass. Lost 40+ lbs in the course. This PC BS is gonna get good guys killed. Rant off.

[Twinkie]

I’d guess that’s probably it. - Several years ago, I heard from an ex-military man that they could not “bug out” when they got the order because the women didn’t have the upper body strength to prepare to bug out. So, they didn’t.

[momincombatboots]

Those numbers seem close to my maxes decades ago...that would have been max for a twenty yr old girl... So.. Looks like lower standards for sure. I was always scoring at least a 301 or better.. I guess after seeing the dedication Rhonda Rousey puts into her MMA career.. My views on this are changing. RR is a true warrior... Guess there may be a handful of women who can do it... The question is, should they? Why not have the most capable warrior, regardless of any other factor. An elite group of premenstual women could do some damage... Might just need a week of chocolate and a pillow to cry in later.

[Gene Eric]

That was good.

[Gene Eric]

The leftwing politics surrounding the qualifications are disgraceful.

The Left goes on and on about discrimination as if Conservatives don’t have daughters they love/respect.

[onona]

Saw that first hand in the first Gulf War. Get knocked up, go home.

[MasterGunner01]

Good for the two ladies. Now, have them compete in the annual “Best Ranger Competition”. If they can make the cut, then assign them to the 75th Rangers. If not, no more female Rangers. Reason; they are not deployable in combat zones.

Go here for details of the 2015 Best Ranger Competition; http://www.bestrangercompetition.com/

[Dusty Road]

“If they can pass the test (and the test hasn’t been made easier just so they can pass) Then I say let them in.”

I agree 100%.

[ctdonath2]

“12 miles with 100 lbs of gear”

Article didn’t say “with gear”.

[trebb]

I’m 64 years old. I do 50 pushups a night. When I was a grunt I could do many more. 49 pushups and 6 pullups seems a bit on the light side fro Ranger school.

I'm 62 and work out with my bowflex and run (have an elliptical for the Biloxi Summers and other bad weather). and am in similar condition. I could do the strength requirements of push ups and pull ups after my workout....

[Squantos]

Hmmm.... I thought the test was tougher than that. Honestly.

Congrats to the two ladies that surpassed the standards and earned the tab.

[Tallguy]

None of those standards seem too high in an of themselves. Most high school athletes could accomplish all of them. The thing about Ranger training is the grueling repetitive nature of it. Men physically break down from it. Men that have been through it speak of the ‘mental toughness’ that is required to finish the training.