I applaud the efforts of Congressman Steve Russell (no relation to me) to get to the bottom of the allegations. I find this article to be a mix of the details of the inquiry by Rep Russell and a rehash of a lot of rumors on the various forums.
For a clearer understanding of the back ground issues on the integration of women in the Army and the Ranger Program, you can read Female Rangers – How General Odierno Saved the Ranger Program and Army’s Warrior Culture, which was published here on Free Republic and my website www.williamrussell.net.
The Army Chief of Staff, General Odierno took a lot of heat inside the Army and Ranger communities. Many argued that he should have resigned in protest to instead of allowing the experiment to take place. Sure, Gen Odierno could have resigned rather than control the experiment. If he had, it would have made a point which would have lasted about 3 seconds in the national press and he would have handed full control of the Ranger Program to politicians whose only goals are political points, and destroying military’s warrior culture.
But for argument’s sake, let’s assume the rumors about MG Miller are true for just a moment. (I’ll just re-use what I posted on the LinkedIn Ranger Forum) It only proves that women could not pass the course without massive special assistance and that they are wholly unqualified. However, if 100% failed, no matter how much the Army bent over backwards to try to assure their success, it would have only proved [to the lib politicians] that the Army is sexist and that politicians must adjust and oversee the Ranger standards to allow a certain quota of women to pass the course and enter the Ranger Regiment.
The Army leadership can now claim that women can make the standard and the standards do not need to be lowered or quotas introduced. This is one of the very few examples in life where I fathom that breaking the standard actually served to preserve the standard.
I believe we will not see a whole lot of women signing up for Ranger training. Finding women who can hang with the training is like finding women who could play in the NBA. The Army could only fill 100 of the 160 slots they set aside to start the pre-Ranger program. The first time pass rate for men starting Ranger School is @ 20% (I believe closer to 40% for those who attend pre-Ranger which includes almost all enlisted men and cadets who want to attend). The first time pass rate for the women in the program was 0%. The pass rate for men jumps to 40% when recycles are thrown in (the vast majority of these are one-time recycles). The pass rate for the women was 0%. I don’t know the numbers on guys who have taken more than one recycle (my hat is off to anyone who recycles to complete the course). The women’s stats made it up to 6% after two recycles of those who started the Ranger course and remained at 2% for those who qualified for pre-Ranger.
While I congratulate the women for sticking it out, I think they are as unusual in this world as Britney Granier is in the WNBA..... While there was much speculation about her trying out for the Dallas Mavericks, there is a reason why that speculation quietly faded away and Britney Granier is not playing the NBA. As the premier player of the WNBA, she is an exceptionally gifted athlete. She could possibly make the roster of an NBA team, but in the real world of professional sports and big-money championships, she would at best be an average to below average player in the NBA.
The profession of arms, especially the combat arms specialties, are every bit as physically demanding as any professional sport. It’s just that the stakes are so much higher.
Miller was the enabler.
You points are very well taken, especially given that despite the name, Ranger School is a leadership course for individuals so called at a time when the Army had disbanded Rangers and the school was an attempt to infuse the spirit and skills of Rangers throughout the Army through the junior officers. It served its purpose well. It also came to be a surrogate for junior officers who had no infantry combat experience and therefore had no Combat Infantryman’s Badge. The Ranger Tab gave credibility to Lieutenants while the Army worked on them to make seasoned leaders.
From this perspective, what Odierno did was a good move, as the experiment was only about an individual course and not combat organizations. As for females graduating, a 2% graduation rate is certain a reasonable result given known physical and other differences. Bully for them, and they will not be the first Ranger graduates who got a wink and a not from some Ranger Lane Grader. The problem is that this is a tactical victory. The political agenda is women in all combat arms organizations including Special Forces and the Ranger Regiment and the feminists will win this fight followed by reductions of standards across the board for all qualification courses, in unit training, and in selection of leaders across the ground gaining combat arms. The Russians are making a mockery of our military today in Syria because of a weak President and a failed foreign strategy. Wait until they take on our new metrosexual combat units.