These 2 badass female Army Rangers just made history — here's the grueling training they endured
(US Army Photo) 1st
Lt. Shaye Haver, center, and Capt. Kristen Griest, right, pose for
photos with other female West Point alumni after an Army Ranger school
graduation ceremony, August 21, 2015, at Fort Benning, Georgia.
There isn't a more fitting motto for America's elite Army Rangers regiment than, "Rangers lead the way!"
For the first time in military history, two women graduated from the excruciating 62-day Ranger School at Fort Benning on Friday.
Capt. Kristen Griest,
26, and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, 25, were awarded the prestigious black and
gold Ranger tab along with 94 of their male counterparts
(West Poing) Capt. Kristen Griest, left, and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, right, in photos from the US Military Academy.
Ranger candidates arrive for
training in the best shape of their lives and survive on a meal a day
and just a few hours of sleep — all the while completing some of the toughest military training in the world.
"Ranger School is a gut check," Jack Murphy, a Special Operations 75th Ranger Regiment veteran and managing editor of the military-focused publication SOFREP told Business Insider.
"... When you see another soldier wearing a Ranger tab on his
or her uniform you know that you have both slogged it out through some
extremely challenging training, which automatically builds a certain
amount of trust in each other," Murphy added.
Last year 4,057 students attempted the notoriously difficult Ranger
School, and only 1,609 earned the Ranger tab, according to the US Army.
'They carried their own weight and then some'
On April 20, West Point graduates Griest, a military-police
officer from Connecticut, and Haver, an Apache helicopter pilot from
Texas, entered into the first gender-integrated Ranger School, alongside
380 men and 18 other female candidates.
"I never actually thought anything was going to be too difficult that it was worth leaving the course," Griest said at a news conference.
"I was thinking really of future generations of women that I would like
them to have that opportunity, so I had that pressure on myself," she
added.
Haver said she was motivated by the
solidarity she felt with her fellow Rangers. "The ability to look around
to my peers and to see they were sucking just as bad as I was, kept me
going," Haver said at the news conference.
"They carried their own weight and then some," wrote fellow Army Ranger Rudy Mac of the two women.
"If I remember correctly, Ranger Griest
carried the M240 for her squad on day one of patrols and another female
in her squad carried the radio as the RTO. The next day of patrols, they
switched, with Ranger Griest humping the radio, and the other female
student carrying the M240 ... Physically, they were studs," Mac added.
"I was the 320 gunner [a grenade
launcher], so I had a lot of weight on me, and I was struggling. And I
stopped, and I asked at halfway point, ‘Hey, can anyone help take some
of this weight?’ I got a lot of deer-in-the headlight looks, you know. A
lot of people were like, ‘I can’t take anymore weight.’ Shaye [Haver]
was the only one to volunteer to take that weight. She took the weight
off me, and she carried it the last half of that road. Literally saved
me. I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now if it wasn’t for
Shaye. So, from that point, no more skepticism," Janowski said.
Welcome to Ranger School
The US Army divides the grueling course into three phases: "Benning," "mountain," and "Florida."
During the Benning phase of Ranger School, which takes place in
Georgia, a soldier's physical stamina, mental toughness, and tactical
skills are evaluated and fine-tuned.
On the last day of the Benning phase, Ranger candidates conduct an
arduous 12-mile march while carrying a 35-pound ruck sack — and without
the luxury of drinking water. About 50% of students will pass this phase
of the course, according to the Ranger School website
.
(US Army Photo) During
the appropriately named mountain phase, Ranger students are sent to the
northern Georgia mountains to continue to learn how to sustain
themselves in adverse conditions.
"The rugged terrain, severe weather, hunger, mental and physical
fatigue, and the emotional stress that the student encounters afford him
the opportunity to gauge his own capabilities and limitations as well
as that of his peers," according to the US Army
(US Army Photo)
The last phase consists of fast-paced field-training exercises in
which candidates are evaluated based on their execution of high-stress
raids, ambushes, and close-combat attacks.
All students must pass an intense physical fitness test that includes
49 push-ups, 59 sit-ups, a 5-mile run with a 40-minute time limit, six
chin-ups, a timed swim test, a land-navigation test, several obstacle
courses, three parachute jumps, four air assaults on helicopters, and 27
days of mock combat patrols
Here is a video of the Ranger candidates:
After graduation
(US Army Photo) Unlike
their male Army Ranger counterparts, both women will not be able to
apply to the 75th Ranger Regiment, the premier tier of Army special
operations with its own unique set of physical requirements.
However, the Pentagon is scheduled to make a decision on which combat roles will be opened to women later this year, CNN reports
.
(US Army Photo)
In an interview with Foreign Policy,
Sgt. Maj. Colin Boley, the operations sergeant major for the Airborne
and Ranger Training Brigade, said he was initially opposed to accepting
women into training, but Haver and Griest changed his mind.
"I didn't think that they would physically be able to bear the
weight, and I thought they would quit or get hurt, and they have proved
me wrong," Boley told Foreign Policy.
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