Woman finishes her training, becomes first in Green Berets

A female National Guard soldier graduated from Army Special Forces training Thursday and earned the title of Green Beret, the first woman to do so since the Pentagon opened all combat jobs, including those in the Special Operations community, to women in 2016.

The woman, an enlisted soldier, was on track to graduate in April but was forced to repeat part of the training before continuing to the final portion, known as Robin Sage, which tests the candidates on a range of skills considered essential to becoming a Green Beret, according to military officials. The New York Times first reported the woman’s ascension through the roughly yearlong course in February.

The soldier’s name and other biographical information have been withheld by the Army for personal and operational security reasons as she enters the secretive Special Operations community.

But her socially distant graduation, during which she received her Special Forces tab and donned her Green Beret alongside her classmates, is a landmark moment, as the Green Berets were one of the last assignments in the Army without women. In February, there was at least one other woman, a medical sergeant, going through Special Forces training.

In recent years, the Army and the Marines have slowly filled previously restricted roles with women. Although more than 700 women in the Army are in previously restricted jobs, a position in the Special Operations forces, which have crushingly high physical standards, had long been considered by some as unattainable for them.