At Ranger School, Three's a Fraud

Call me a suspicious guy, but I find it just a little too convenient that three women managed to graduate from Ranger School in the months preceding Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s decision to allow women to serve in the combat arms branches and special operations units.

Captain Kristen Griest and First Lieutenant Shaye Haver were the first two women to graduate from Ranger School in August of 2015. Their graduation was the subject of much speculation by some members of the media and Congressman Steve Russell who requested the Ranger School records of both Griest and Haver.

Congressman Steve Russell (R., OK) has been trying to get the Ranger School records for the female graduates for six months now.

Why won’t the Army just give Russell the records? At first they told him they were destroyed. That’s interesting since Army schools usually keep records a year or two after graduation. Then, Russell requested the Green Cards, the transcript of someone’s performance at Ranger School that everyone who has attended the school since 1952 has in a file cabinet there.

The Army balked at the Green Card request stating “privacy concerns.” That’s a good one, considering the people looking at the records are elected officials with top secret clearances. What’s private about a land navigation score? Nothing, unless one of the female graduates had a history of BOLO-ing land nav repeatedly and the Army passed her anyway. Can you think of a bigger cluster than a Ranger who doesn’t know how to use a map and compass?

In the Fall of 2014, at Fort Carson, Colorado, a group of female soldiers were given three months of training to specifically prepare them for Ranger School. The female soldiers were pulled away from their regular duties in the Army to eat, breathe and sleep Ranger School for ninety days. One of the female soldiers who attended the training was First Lieutenant Shaye Haver.

Yet, the Army’s senior leaders, from Secretary John McHugh, down to General Martin Dempsey, Major-General Scott Miller, commander of Fort Benning and Colonel David Fivecoat, commander of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade repeatedly denied that women were given any type of special treatment or advance preparation for Ranger School.

In addition, First Lieutenant Haver consistently failed land navigation during various assessments conducted at Fort Carson. Yet, Haver was sent to Fort Benning to attend Ranger School. Even more frightening is the fact that not one female soldier in the assessment group of roughly fifty soldiers passed land navigation. It is not known if other female soldiers were sent to Fort Benning from this group.

Sources also informed US Defense Watch that First Lieutenant Haver failed land navigation at the Ranger Training Assessment Course, a 16 day evaluation soldiers must pass before being allowed to start the school itself.

Haver graduated from Ranger School in August of 2015 after having been recycled twice and having to restart the whole course on one occasion. Did Haver also fail land navigation repeatedly at Ranger School? Undoubtedly, this would appear in her records, which were shredded by the Army. But, her Green Card, a Ranger School transcript of her progress wasn’t. Surely, Haver’s land navigation scores are noted on her Green Card.

Yet, the Army refuses to send Congressman Steve Russell and the House Armed Services Committee the Green Cards for Haver, Griest and Major Lisa Jaster, the 37 year old woman who graduated from the school as well. As of now, the only thing Congressman Russell has received from the Army is some concocted mini white paper showing that men and women are performing the same at Fort Benning and that women are meeting the standards.

Obviously, the Army wheeled out three females and graduated them from Ranger School as a gift to Ash Carter, who knows nothing about the military and everything about pleasing the White House.

When Steve Russell, a former Ranger School grad, Infantry officer and combat vet began to question what was going on at Benning, the Army went into an oral lockdown mode.

With Russell muzzled and any questions by the media denounced, Ash Carter was persuaded to use the three female Ranger School graduates as some kind of litmus test for the authorization of putting women into the combat arms and special operations.

Since Major Jaster, or Mommy Ranger “graduated” from Ranger School in September 2015, in what was a complete and utter Lie too Far, not one more female has made it through the course. Nearly two dozen women have washed out.

Now, that Carter has already made his decision, which will certainly be approved by a spineless Congress in April, it’s kind of suspicious why no other women seem to be passing.

You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out that the three women were coddled and used by the Army to promote a crackpot feminist agenda oozing from the White House.

The moral cowards at Benning who permitted that fiasco to take place have disgraced the honor of every Ranger in the nation’s history. The moral cowards at Benning are guilty of aiding and abetting the destruction of the US military.

By passing three unqualified women at Ranger School, the moral cowards at Benning have blown a hole right through the national defense.

How do you flunk Land Nav at Fort Carson? It is a desert with terrain features. And, Norad is ALWAYS in view.

During a training exercise at Fort Bliss, I made a mistake on the location of "Franklin's nose." Damn that was embarrassing.

I was great with land navigation in Germany. So many landmarks to get one reoriented. When all else failed, I simply headed for the Mosel River and a bottle of wine...lol.

My last 18 months, I was Battalion S-4, and I knew our area of operations like the back of my hand, even though it was at least 1200 square miles (air base defense, 3 air bases, Bitburg, Hahn, Spangdahlem). As I was a bachelor, I spent what little free time I had driving around. Came in handy during ARTEPs, the evaluators knew I was an expert on the best gasthauses, backereis, and vineyards. We didn't stop at the wineries, I just gave them name and location.

Over my last 18 months, every Hail & Farewell was within a 10 minute drive of my apartment. No surprise, there...there were dozens of restaurants with a view of the Mosel, very few that were stationed at Hahn & Spangdahlem knew about these places, while I drove by them on my way to and from work every day.

My last ARTEP was hilarious. The "old man" demanded imagination, and I gave it to him. I used my knowledge of logistics and the local area to put together alternate "supply points" for all of our units. As I was giving my briefing, the chief evaluator, an LTC, is getting very agitated...my battalion commander was laughing his a$$ off, he thought it was great.

When asked by the evaluator, "where the hell did you get this $hit?", I simply replied that, in the event of an actual conflict, we would have to be imaginative and flexible regarding resupply. I explained to him that over the course of my four years in the battalion, I had developed relationships with dozens of local merchants, to the point where I had been invited to sit at the stammtisch of my neighborhood gasthaus.

The LTC said "bull$shit", I've never heard of an American being allowed at a stammtisch, whereupon the Headquarters Battery Commander, said "Colonel, that's true, I've seen it." When he joined me, we spoke nothing but German. He was fluent, and I was conversational. He fell in love with a German girl shortly upon arriving (they're still married, 35 years later), while I was the character from Warren Zevon's song, Lawyers, Guns, & Money).

Game...set...match. Shortly after, a couple of the supply evaluators and I went to an "alternate supply point" for dinner. lol

I'd like to think I did my share to help turn that battalion from a C-3 to a C-1. Nothing but fond memories from that time in Germany, even for the bad times. I may not die a rich man, but I was blessed to have had the experiences I had during that tour. I could bore people for hours with my stories, and have done so...lol.

“will end this foolishness”

Nope- they are currently:

1. going to have women on submarine patrol
2. ALL- YES all special forces groups-(seals,recon,parajumper) HAVE to integrate Women

3. Must integrate - transgender,homosexuals and lesbians
into ALL units.

4. one thing this congress will not allow..??
A CHRISTIAN CHAPLAIN

This has ALREADY been signed off by the Demonrats and GOPe

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