Three Female Soldiers Begin Second Attempt at Army Ranger School

Three of the original female soldiers to volunteer for U.S. Army Ranger School on Monday took another shot at completing the traditionally all-male infantry course.

All three of the women, who haven’t been identified, passed the Ranger Physical Fitness Assessment, the first obstacle and a requirement to enter the physically and mentally challenging two-month course, according to Col. William Butler, deputy commandant of the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

This was the second time the three female officers passed the event that many male soldiers don’t get through. It’s 49 push-ups in two minutes, 59 sit-ups in two minutes and six chin-ups to strict standard, Ranger officials maintain. They also had to complete a five-mile run in 40 minutes.

The one female major and two female first lieutenants failed at two attempts to make it through the first phase of Ranger School, but the trio’s performance impressed the school’s leadership enough to earn a chance to start over from day one.

Fort Benning held its first co-ed course of Army Ranger School on April 20. Nineteen women and 380 men were pre-screened for the combat training program.

By the end of the first week, only eight female soldiers completed the Ranger Assessment Phase, or RAP week. But the remaining eight women weren't able to complete the first phase and advance to the second phase of the course. Instead, they were allowed to repeat the Darby Phase, along with 101 male candidates.

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