60 Women Become the First Female Soldiers to Attend U.S. Army Ranger School

[Omaha Steve]

by Crystal Shepeard January 23, 2015 4:00 pm

http://www.care2.com/causes/60-women-become-the-first-female-soldiers-to-attend-u-s-army-ranger-school.html




This past September, the U.S. Army put out a call for female soldiers to volunteer to attend Ranger School. The United States Army Rangers are an elite unit and the Army’s “premier direct-action raid force.” In other words, the Rangers are called into the height of war via land, sea, or air to conduct lethal and complex joint special combat missions. The regiments are located in four locations, all are volunteer, and all male.

Now, the Army is considering whether to allow women to participate.

Beginning in 2013, the Department of Defense instructed the military to open up certain combat fields to women. Since then, each branch has been conducting their own testing and assessments to determine physical requirements for combat positions and whether those requirements would need to be altered in order to open them up to women. Others have argued that the physical requirements should not, and often need not be altered, but that women have to train differently to meet the same standards. Some branches have already opened up some positions and final determination as to which positions will or will not be gender integrated must be completed by January 2016.

The Army has spent most of its time doing research on the baseline requirements for combat positions. They did a field study with randomly selected soldiers in eight different brigades to come up with gender-neutral standards on 31 different specialties. Now, they are ready to test those standards for the Army Rangers.

FULL story at link.

[MohRokTah]

1. HUA to any women capable of completing that course.

Most men wash out, so any women making it through the course must be respected, especially since it is likely the instructors are going to try to be as harsh as possible.

[Duckhunter935]

2. I wish them luck

hard course with a very high attrition rate, I never even thought about going that way.

[Dreamer Tatum]

3. Hope they all make it, hope none are good at it

Lest they be flayed on DU like some soldiers.