First female soldiers earn their tabs at Ranger School

School was open to women for first time this year.

FORT BENNING, GA. — The first female soldiers to complete the Army’s rigorous Ranger School pinned on their blackand-gold Ranger tab at a raucous graduation ceremony Friday, capping their history-making week and putting a spotlight on the debate over women in combat.

With family members, friends, an unusually large media contingent and an all-star cast of former Rangers looking on, First Lt. Shaye Haver and Capt. Kristen Griest graduated alongside 94 male soldiers at a ceremony on the shore of “Victory Pond.”

The women drew national attention for finishing the nine-week program designed to test young soldiers’ leadership abilities as the Pentagon approaches decisions on opening all combat positions to women who meet military standards.

Their success casts new attention on the obstacles that remain to women who aspire to join all-male combat units, including the 75th Ranger Regiment. Although Haver and Griest are now Ranger-qualified, no women are eligible for the elite regiment, although officials say it is among special operations units likely to be opened to women eventually.

Of 19 women who began the Ranger course, Haver and Griest are the only two to finish so far; one is repeating a prior phase of training in hopes of graduating soon.

Addressing the graduates, Maj. Gen. Scott Miller said no one should doubt that all 96 graduates met Ranger stan- dards, regardless of their sex, and he congratulated them on proving their mettle.

“You’ll leave Victory Pond today with a small piece of cloth on your shoulder, but more importantly you carry the title of Ranger from here on out,” he said. Miller is commander of all Army infantry and armor training and education, including the Ranger School.

The Army opened Ranger School to women for the first time this year as service leaders weighed opening more combat jobs to women. How far the military is willing to go toward ending restrictions on women will be evident soon.

Gen. Mark Milley, the Army’s new chief of staff who flew to Fort Benning to attend the graduation ceremony, said he is proud of all the Rangers who completed the course and appreciates the importance of the pioneering performance of Haver and Griest.

“It’s a really big deal” for them and for the Army, he said.

JESSICA MCGOWAN / GETTY IMAGES Capt. Kristen Griest (right) and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver sport their Ranger tabs after graduating from Ranger School at Fort Benning, Ga. on Friday. They are the first women ever to successfully gain their tabs.