Inside the Army’s effort to train women for Ranger School

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Inside the Army’s effort to train women for Ranger School

Inside the Army’s effort to train and assess women for Ranger School

FORT BENNING, Ga. — Forty-four U.S. soldiers lined up here in formation before dawn Saturday with one more major requirement left before they could attend the Army’s elite Ranger School: A six-mile road march while hauling a rifle and 45 pounds of combat gear. It was one last test of wills through the winding hills and humidity of western Georgia.

Mixed into the group were nine women who are part of a historic, one-time experiment in which female soldiers will attend Ranger School for the first time beginning April 20. The Army launched the effort to gather research and assess options following a Pentagon directive that requires women be integrated into more jobs in combat units by 2016. Any woman who graduates from Ranger School this spring will wear the service’s prestigious Ranger Tab on her uniform, but will not be assigned to the Ranger Regiment, which remains closed to women.

[The Army approved women going to Ranger School, and reaction is mixed]

Before daylight arrived, eight of the nine women — and 31 men — completed the march, with several men and women doubled over in exhaustion by the end. It’s all but assured that they will attend the grueling elite leadership course because it was the last event at which students are dropped for not meeting requirements, Army officials said. It means that up to 20 women could be part of the Ranger School class; 12 had previously qualified.

“The amount of genuine admiration and respect for anyone who raises their hand and says ‘I want to give this a shot’ is unquestioned,” said Brig. Gen. James Rainey, the commandant of the Army Infantry School at Fort Benning. “We all want more Rangers, and we all have a ton of respect for anyone who signs up, because a whole lot of people don’t.”

The Washington Post visited Fort Benning Friday and Saturday for a behind-the-scenes look at how women are being trained and evaluated for Ranger School. Army officials did not allow interviews with male or female students, but allowed The Post to join the march and observe other events.

The research is considered unwelcome and controversial by those who do not want women serving in units that have been all-male for generations. But the Pentagon is requiring the services to study what is possible and present requests for exception to the new policy favoring integration.

The Army announced in January that it was opening Ranger School as part of that research, and required that female volunteers first attend an existing 17-day preparatory course known as the Ranger Training and Assessment Course (RTAC). It’s run by the Army National Guard at Fort Benning, and attended by more than 5,000 prospective Ranger students annually.

Ranger School is not just for those who want to serve in the Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment. Its graduates include pilots, armor officers and a variety of other soldiers.

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