Way back in 2015, long before the first women attended the Army’s elite Ranger School (one of the most grueling military courses in the world) officials claimed, “A woman will graduate Ranger School. At least one will get through.” That directive set the tone for what was to follow.
The Best Ranger Competition is an annual, multi-day, “Ranger-style” physical and tactical challenge held at Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning) in Georgia. It pits elite, two-man, Ranger-qualified teams from the military against one another to determine the best Ranger buddy team in the armed forces.
The event is widely considered one of the most physically and mentally grueling competitions in the world.
Ranger School consists of three phases: Moore (Benning), which lasts 21 days and includes water survival, land navigation, a 12-mile march, patrols, and an obstacle course; Mountain Phase, which lasts 20 days, and includes assaults, ambushes, mountaineering and patrols; and Swamp Phase, which lasts 17 days and covers waterborne operations.
There were complaints that women attending the grueling Ranger School would get special treatment and would be playing by different rules. For the first time in Army history, a female service member completed the grueling Best Ranger Competition. WOW!
First Lt. Gabrielle White, a 25-year-old West Point graduate, became the first female Ranger ever to compete in the annual three-day, 30-event marathon. The events included helicopter missions, land navigation, weapon qualification, and various physical tests.
White was the only woman on any of the 52 two-person teams that competed, with her team making it to the final events — even as other teams dropped out — and placing 14th. Overall, the competition included 103 men and just one woman.
White withstood the same standards as everyone else. Like the saying goes… “A five-mile run is still five miles. A 12-mile march is still 12 miles.
I offer a big hand salute to ANYONE who can complete these courses of elitism. As many know, they are done on a volunteer basis…if you can’t take it you get a free pass to the exit.
I speak from experience because in 1963 I completed airborne school at Fort Benning, and the class began with 1,100 trainees, and we graduated with a little over 600.
