For The First Time, Women Will Graduate From Army’s Rigorous Ranger School

Two female soldiers will graduate from the Army’s legendary Ranger School this week, the first women to complete the course since it was opened to them on an experimental basis this year, the U.S. Army said Monday evening.

The women earned an Army Ranger Tab after completing a final challenge in the Florida swamps.

According to The Washington Post the two women are still not allowed to try out for the 75th Ranger Regiment because it has its own grueling training process and remains closed to women. The female graduates are expected to speak to the media for the first time Thursday alongside instructors and other soldiers at Ranger School.

The women started the regimen in April, but like many men they were required to retake a phase of the course if they didn’t pass on the first go.

The two women were among 19 women who initially began the months-long course as part of the Army’s ongoing assessment of integrating women into all combat units. About 4,000 students attempt Ranger School each year, with some 1,600 – 40 percent – graduating. The military services have pledged to do so without compromising standards. A total of 29 students were dropped from the course for failing to meet the standards of the Darby Phase.

The nineteen female students were whittled to eight in April during an initial assessment that includes everything from chin-ups to push-ups to an exhausting 12-mile road march through Fort Benning’s hills while carrying a full combat load. One other woman is further behind in the training program, while the others failed to advance.

On average, about 45 percent of Ranger School students will graduate from the course.

None of the eight women made it past the Darby Phase on the first try and were recycled, along with 101 of their male classmates, on May 8.