Retired Army Colonel from South Middleton Township supports women in frontline

“This has been something she’s wanted to do for a long, long time”, Capt. Griest’s older brother, Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Mike Griest, said in a phone interview. But for now they’re still unable to join the elite 75th Ranger Regiment based at Fort Benning.

The Pentagon should establish a uniform policy lifting bans on women’s participation in combat units.

“Clearly, these two soldiers are trailblazers”, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters Thursday.

Capt Griest, who trains 20 hours a day while carrying 41kg of kit and weapons, said she never thought of giving up. Captain Griest and First Lieutenant Shaye Haver graduated alongside 94 male Army Rangers. He, too, was very proud of the achievements that the two women have had and stated that this could set the bar higher for all the women in military institutions. Griest was a military police platoon leader, Haver a pilot on an Apache attack helicopter.

What motivated her was winning the respect of her Ranger teammates by meeting the same challenges they did.

“To date we’ve not had takers who want to come and revalidate their tabs”, Miller said.

Griest was picked as the distinguished honor graduate of a course run in December to prepare soldiers for Ranger School, according to a Facebook post by her reported unit, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

The primary feminine troopers to finish the Military’s rigorous Ranger Faculty pinned on their black-and-gold Ranger tab at a commencement ceremony Friday, capping their history-making week and placing a highlight on the talk over ladies in fight.

Hanger called the women “absolutely physical studs”. “I also remember her being physically stronger than the typical adolescent girl”. Curtis Arnold, the senior enlisted soldier for the Airborne and Training Brigade. “They do not quit and they do not complain”. And exceeding that, my advice is to, once you get to that point, keep going and to realize that your mind can take a whole lot more than your body can. In April, 400 started, but less than one in four made the cut.

The school, known for its punishing standards and rigor, had only been open to men. “We ourselves came to Ranger School skeptical, with our guards up, just in case there were haters and naysayers”. He says the Ranger course is one of the most challenging things you could ever do.

The most important pre-training exercise to do prior to Ranger school is walking fast in your boots with 50 pounds of weight on your back. And they don’t get much chance to rest or refuel. So a normal course length is 62 days. They will most likely be assigned support roles instead.

“I know my first experience with the women in Ranger School was during RAP week”. Michael Calderon, one of the women’s classmates.