West Point women seek congressman’s Ranger School record

A group of West Point women graduates have fired back at an Oklahoma congressman and retired Army officer who has questioned whether or not the two women who recently graduated Ranger School were held to the same standards as the men. The Republican lawmaker has given McHugh until Friday to hand over the documents.

Russell sent a letter to Secretary of the Army John McHugh on September 15, and the Ledger-Enquirer obtained it this week from Russell’s office.

The West Point women say the Ranger’s Code is similar to West Point, adding that the congressman’s implication that the female Rangers were in some way dishonest goes against their core values. “Ranger instructors and their leaders are known for their integrity but somehow when women pass the standard that integrity is no longer respected”.

Last month, Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver became the first women to graduate from Ranger School, considered the Army’s toughest leadership training course. She said about a dozen West Point women graduates have joined her in the call for Russell’s records. “For some of us, enough is enough”, said Fulton, who serves as chairwoman on the West Point board of visitors.

One of those women is going through the third and final Swamp Phase for the second time.

Fulton told The Hill that the idea for the FOIA request began after the group discussed Russell’s request on an informal Facebook page.

Russell declined an interview request from Stars and Stripes.

“The rigors of combat are unforgiving”, Russell wrote in the letter, first reported by People. He is Ranger qualified.

He also requested peer evaluations and “a complete breakdown of each female candidate’s recycle history and dates for each phase”.

“One of the reasons you’re seeing such strong reaction from West Point women is that the arguments being made and the objections being raised are the same stuff that we have heard for decades”, Fulton said.

As part of the Army’s gender-integrated assessment of Ranger School, 19 women started Ranger School in April. “These soldiers graduating today accomplished it with the very same standards of Ranger School as those before them”, Maj.