海角大神

In a historic first, five women qualify for Army Ranger School

The Army opened its prestigious Army Ranger School to women last autumn. Now, five women have qualified and more could be on the way. But even if they pass, they still can't serve as Rangers 鈥� yet.

The first wave of women could be on their way to the United States Army鈥檚 prestigious Ranger School later this year after passing a two-week-long qualifying course.

Five women and 53 men completed the Ranger Training Assessment Course in Fort Benning, Ga., on Jan. 30. The first-ever coed Ranger School will be held in April.

Some 19 percent of the women who enrolled in the course completed it (5 of 26), while 55 percent of men completed the course (53 of 96). Given that this was the first integrated RTAC, the women's completion rate sets an initial bar.聽

Going forward, "historically, more than half of the soldiers who complete the RTAC will successfully complete the Ranger Course,鈥� Army officials said in a statement. (Those were all men.)

Women who successfully complete Ranger School will receive a certificate and will be permitted to wear the prestigious Ranger tab. For the time being, however, they will not be allowed to serve as Rangers. Women are still prohibited from serving in direct combat, though the armed services have been reevaluating that position and are expected to deliver recommendations to the secretary of Defense about women in combat by next January.

Still, the tab 鈥渋s an important thing in terms of establishing credibility as a soldier 鈥� and if she has it, it says a lot about her ability,鈥� says Greg Jacob, who served as a Marine and is now policy director at the Service Women鈥檚 Action Network in Washington.聽

The Army describes the Rangers as its 鈥減remier direct-action raid force,鈥� requiring its troops to be 鈥渓ethal鈥� and 鈥渁gile.鈥� It will hold three more RTACs between now and the opening of Ranger School, giving more women a chance to qualify.

The troops who worked with the women were 鈥渋mpressed with the level of physical fitness and the dedication of the majority of female volunteers,鈥� Lt. Col. Edmund 鈥淏eau鈥� Riely, commander of the Army National Guard Warrior Training Center, said in a statement from Fort Benning.

The first phase of the RTAC 鈥渕irrors the assessment phase at Ranger School, and is 鈥渄esigned to assess a soldier鈥檚 physical and mental abilities,鈥� according to the statement.

This includes a physical fitness test, a swimming evaluation, land navigation, and a six-mile foot march.聽

The second phase of the RTAC is a 鈥渇ield training exercise鈥� to test and train soldiers on 鈥渢roop leading鈥� skills, 鈥渨hich will be used extensively during the Ranger Course,鈥� the statement notes.

The Ranger School 鈥渋s one of the toughest training courses for which a soldier can volunteer,鈥� the web site notes. For more than two months, 鈥淩anger students train to exhaustion, pushing the limits of their minds and bodies.鈥�