After over 120 days of grueling physical and emotional strain, Captain Kristen Griest and 1st Lieutenant Shaye Haver will be the first women to graduate from the Army’s Ranger School and get their Ranger tabs, according to CNN. Griest is a military police officer and Haver is an Apache helicopter pilot. They describe themselves as “happy, relieved, and ready for some good food and sleep.” Otherwise, they have not spoken publicly about their accomplishments.
Ranger School is so highly revered as to be practically mythological within Army culture. 97% of soldiers will never earn the right to wear the Ranger tab. Griest and Haver started the course in April and repeated the first phase twice and blew the other two phases out of the water. Although they will return to their original posts with new skills, they will not be allowed to immediately serve in infantry jobs, Army special forces, or the Ranger regiment. Those units are still for men only, although they should open up to women on January 1, 2016.
The response to the women has been mainly positive, with Time saying their success is proof positive women can hold any job in the military. Some commenters on Facebook have expressed less-than-savory views, although my new favorite page, US Army Fort Benning, shot many of them down with some epic burns.
