When it came to the media coverage of what was actually happening at Ranger School for the female students in the summer of 2015, I was less than impressed. Some headlines were optimistic, but others were sheer speculation, hateful, and downright wrong about women’s capabilities and roles in modern combat along with what was occurring at Ranger School. Unfortunately for everyone participating in and supporting the Ranger assessment, the harsh criticism did impact what was happening on the ground and was impacting results.

Some of the male Ranger Instructors (RIs) feared being ostracized by those that did not want women there, and they also worried about losing their reputations or even their job positions and so were torn when it came to grading the female Ranger Students. The big questions for them were should they pass them because they may feel the political pressure to err in their favor, or do they fail them because many insiders did not want women serving as Rangers in the infantry?

I talked with one of the instructors about what he thought happened when the female students first failed Darby Phase. He said his buddy at Fort Benning had felt pressure when grading the females because a general officer, or one of the highest ranking officer within the Army, decided to walk the lane and observe the students during testing in the field; the instructor said that an officer of that rank had never participated in a field exercise before in the history of Ranger School. He said he was trying to mind-read what the general officer wanted him to do, to pass or fail the female Ranger Student. As a result, the RI turned to his grading rubric and meticulously went “by the book” or checklist of what it took to pass the lane. By the standards on the checklist, the female student had failed. In reality, however, every instructor and Soldier at Ranger School knows that RIs grade on a curve subjectively, and this is based on unique events that happen within each team, squad, platoon, and class. RIs factor in all data they have observed along with the general caliber of the class and make a judgment call if they want that student to become a Ranger. The instructor explained to me that if he had been measured by the same standard on which the female students were originally tested, he would never have passed Ranger School.

Social media was buzzing, and even senior leaders from within the US Army Ranger School were weighing in on the nay-sayers who claimed the RI’s were going easy on the female students and that there was no way a women could pass the rigorous standards like the men could. At first I would comment on the posts and correct glaring errors in the areas of speculation. Then I gave up trying to convince a few as I realized reality did not matter to these individuals; they did not want the truth.

The three media representatives we let in at Camp Frank Merrill were, however, professional and fact-based driven.  They came on the days we predetermined, one of which was the day the first female Ranger student climbed Mount Yona, a significant milestone for Ranger students going through the course. After climbing up a mountain at no less than a 45 degree incline and carrying up to 50lbs of weight, students would execute multiple repels and climbs. The scariest of the events was a 300 meter night repel which was so high and dark, students had to use their night vision goggles, and even then they could not see the bottom because of the curve of the cliff.

As we watched, I spoke with one of the instructors about how he thought peer evaluations, where students get to rate their fellow students on their performance, morals, and team effort, were going to work for the female students. He spoke very confidently that he would not allow any prejudice; if any female student did not carry her weight and help others, than she deserved to be removed like any other male student. He spoke about the pride behind weeding out those individuals, regardless of gender, that had moral shortcomings; no one wanted to go war with a person that would not have your back because a person like that would get you killed.

It was not but a week later, I found myself assigned to walk a lane where I observed one of the female students being graded on her platoon leadership position. Because she blended so well, I did not realize that she was even in this platoon until I heard her telling one of the male students to hurry up. I saw the male student mumble something under his breath as he took a knee, but she heard him and grabbed something from his ruck. She helped him up and then they continued on.

Later that day, she was assigned to be the platoon sergeant. In the evenings, most of the lanes had an ambush scheduled where the fake enemy attacks with blank rounds and pop shots. Luckily for us, it was somewhere in the movement that the platoon received enemy fire. I was happy because even I was getting tired of walking up and down the grueling mountains, and my task was far easier. I saw a female Ranger Student immediately spring into action, expertly moving her Soldiers in the rear to a flanking position. One Soldier simulated being shot, and almost like magic, the female Ranger student was there rendering aid. Everyone else in the platoon seemed to be moving like molasses or zombies; unbelievably, she looked like she was not even fazed by the elements, lack of sleep, and restricted diet that she had already endured for months. At this point, one of the RI’s had moved over to act as someone on the other end of the radio where she could call in a 9 line MEDEVAC, or call for a helicopter to come pick up her casualty. Only making minor mistakes, she called in one of the better 9 lines I have ever heard. It was so obvious at this point that she had passed the test, which meant she had just passed what was considered the hardest phase of Ranger School.

I felt like I was floating on a cloud as we continued to walk to base camp, or patrol base, for the night. As the sun went down, I shuffled over to the separate camp the RIs established away from the students, and I heard happy chatter. The other instructors were teasing the instructor who had just graded the female student and passed her. They jokingly asked him if he wanted to personally be responsible for the existence of female Rangers. He smiled, but I could not read if he was upset or not; he walked off from the group past me mumbling that it would have been a crime if he had not passed her. I agreed.

The views expressed in this blog are not the views and opinions of the US Army or US Army Ranger School or any Department of Defense or any affiliate organization. All views and opinions are my own.

Continue the story with Part Three of “What It Was Like Watching the First Women Go through Ranger School.”

~Lesley