The first two women to graduate from Army Ranger School have been identified, according to news reports.
The 20-something West Point graduates are Capt. Kristen Griest, a military police officer from Connecticut (shown in the image above), and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, an Apache helicopter pilot from Arizona (shown in the image below), according to articles in The Ledger-Enquirer and The Washington Post.
In the official Army photo above, Griest participates in close arm combatives during the Ranger Course on April 20 at Fort Benning, Georgia. In the one below, Haver conducts mountaineering training during the course on Mount Yonah on July 14 in Cleveland, Georgia.
Military.com's Matt Cox will be among the reporters to interview them during a briefing Thursday at Fort Benning. The women are set to graduate along the men during a ceremony Friday at the base.
Fort Benning began its first co-ed Ranger course on April 20. Nineteen women and 380 men were pre-screened for the program. Eight women made it through the first week, called Ranger Assessment Phase, but didn't pass the subsequent Benning Phase. They were "recycled," or allowed to attempt the Benning Phase a second time, but failed. Five women were then dropped from the program and three were invited to start over from day one, along with five male candidates.
The Army said more than a third -- or 34 percent -- of students who enter Ranger School recycle at least one phase of the course, adding to the student’s physical and mental fatigue.
