海角大神

Two Army soldiers are still in the running to become the first women ever to earn a Ranger tab.

On Friday, the Army announced that these women, along with 125 men, successfully passed the second phase of Ranger school 鈥� the mountain phase 鈥� in the north Georgia mountains.聽

Coming into the mountain phase, three of the 19 women who originally began Ranger School back in April were still at Ranger School. One of these women and 60 men will now be offered the opportunity to recycle, or repeat, the mountain phase of the training.

For the rest of the students, their next stop, starting Sunday, will be Camp Rudder at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where they will begin jungle training, the final step in their efforts to earn a Ranger tab.聽

The soldiers are part of a pilot program this year to allow women to participate in Ranger School. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno has said that he expects the pilot program to be extended for at least a couple more rounds of Ranger School. The move is another step toward erasing historic discrepancies within the military that have contributed to a perception that women were second-class soldiers, advocates of the change say. If they pass, the women would not serve as Rangers, but would instead earn the tab, which could offer them additional credibility with fellow soldiers.

All of these students have demonstrated 鈥済rit, refusal to quit, tactical competence, and perhaps most importantly, teamwork while under extreme individual conditions,鈥� said Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, commander of the Army鈥檚 Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Ga.

The Ranger students, including the three women 鈥� all West Point graduates 鈥� began the mountain phase of their training near Dahlonega, Ga., on July 11.

The swamp training, as with all phases of Ranger School, is intense. In February 1995, four soldiers died during swamp training, due to 鈥渟everely lowered body temperatures鈥� after conducting military exercises, including building rope bridges, in chest-deep water for an extended period of time. Four others, suffering from hypothermia, were sent to the hospital. Though this is unlikely to be a problem in the summer, the swamp phase will test the Ranger students in a number of ways.聽鈥�

It will include 17 days of 鈥渆xtended platoon level operations鈥� in the 鈥渃ostal swamp environment鈥� near Valparaiso, Fla. During this time, there will be two jumps for those soldiers who are airborne-qualified. The training also will feature four days of 鈥渨aterborne operations,鈥� including small boat movements and stream crossings, as well as 10 days of field training with student-led patrols. All of this training is meant to simulate warfighting in the jungle.

At this point, the students are two-thirds of the way done with Ranger School, notes Col. David Fivecoat, commander of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade at Fort Benning.聽

鈥淚 was very impressed with the students鈥� toughness at leading platoon-sized patrols in the North Georgia Mountains during this extremely hot summer,鈥� he said in a statement issued by the Ranger School. 鈥淭he coastal swamps of Florida will continue to test the students,鈥� he added. 鈥淥nly the best will be successful and earn the Ranger Tab.鈥澛�