Two female soldiers are the first ever to successfully complete Army Ranger School.<\/p>\n
Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver are two among the 96 students who will graduate from the Fort Benning course. Griest and Haver struggled along with the rest of the class to complete the grueling obstacles and reach their full potential, but because of their gender they will not be eligible to join the Army\u2019s Ranger Battalion \u2013 yet.<\/p>\n
Their class started with 381 men and 19 women, but between sleep deprivation, starvation, and intense physical and mental training and exertion, 304 soldiers dropped out. <\/p>\n
Griest and Haver were not among them. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis course has proven that every soldier, regardless of gender, can achieve his or her full potential,\u2019 said Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh.<\/p>\n
After 62 days of hell, the two women can proudly bear the title of Army Ranger. The U.S. military is still exploring what positions they want women to fill, but Griest and Haver\u2019s accomplishments may force the brass to reconsider allowing women in more combat roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an important moment and an important week because I see it as reality and perception catching up with each other,\u201d said Davidson, a former U.S. Air Force aircraft commander and senior pilot. \u201cWomen have been on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq. \u2026 So you see policymakers in the Pentagon are ready to say, \u2018We don\u2019t see any reasons why women can\u2019t be [in certain roles].\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Griest and Haver are \u201chappy and relieved, and ready for some good food and sleep,\u201d and their families are ready to celebrate the \u201cmonumental and joyous occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n
(This article was a submission from freelance writer Brent Rogers<\/em>) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two female soldiers are the first ever to successfully complete Army Ranger School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":41480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,326,25,243,240],"tags":[132,335],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-41479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gunsamerica-authors","8":"category-brent","9":"category-current-events","10":"category-military","11":"category-this-week","12":"tag-buzz","13":"tag-military"},"yoast_head":"\n