Third Woman Joins Army Rangers Today

Lisa Jaster, 37, an Army Reservist who is the third woman to successfully pass the Army’s integrated Ranger Assessment Course in 2015. Receiving her Ranger badge was a mission accomplished.

Jaster, who lives in Houston, TX says she drills out of Huntsville, AL with the Corps of Engineers. “When Kris and Shaye moved on and I didn’t, that was one of the hardest moments at Ranger School for me”. Haver and Griest became the Army’s first female graduates of the Army’s rigorous Ranger School, putting a spotlight on the debate over women in combat. They returned to Fort Benning, Georgia today to show their support.

Jaster’s graduation comes as an Oklahoma congressman has asked the Secretary of the Army for Ranger School records from the classes that included the women. Gen. Malcom B. Frost, the Army’s chief of public affairs, said that the September People Magazine article charging that Army Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver were given special treatment was “flat-out wrong” and “pure fiction”, Military.com reported.

Major Jaster spent a total of 180 days in the course.

“It means you get to take a 15-minute nap while the platoon sergeant figures out a way to medi-vac you”, she said with a smile.

For inspiration, she carried a photo of her 3-year-old daughter Victoria and 7-year-old son Zachary in her pocket.

“I wanted to do something”.