Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver are the first women to earn the coveted Ranger Tab.
The women, whose names were first reported by various media outlets, are scheduled to graduate from Ranger School on Friday.
A Defense Department official confirmed to Army Times the women's identities. The Army has not released the officers' names; it is scheduled to do so Thursday, when the officers and their Ranger School battle buddies will participate in a media roundtable at Fort Benning, Georgia. It will be the first time the women have spoken to will communicate with the media since beginning their four-month journey through the grueling Ranger School.
Griest, a military police officer, and Haver, an AH-64 Apache pilot, will graduate Friday alongside 94 of their male classmates, the Army announced Monday.
Their graduation ceremony will take place Friday on Victory Pond at Fort Benning.
The women are part of the Army's gender-integrated assessment of Ranger School.
The assessment has drawn a high level of scrutiny, with many questioning whether the Army is lowering its standards for the elite school, which until now has been open only to men, while many others have cheered on the female students.
Army officials have long insisted that the standards have not been were not changed in any way.
Capt. Kristen Griest participates in Ranger School.
Photo Credit: Spc. Nikayla Shodeen/Army
Griest and Haver's families on Wednesday issued a statement asking for privacy.
"CPT Griest and LT Haver are just like all the soldiers in Class 8-15 — happy, relieved, and ready for some good food and sleep," the statement said. "Like everyone who will pin the tab on Friday, they are exceptional soldiers and strong teammates."
The families went on to ask for privacy for themselves and for "all the families and friends of Ranger Class 8-15."
"This is a monumental and joyous occasion for all 96 soldiers who will be pinning on the Ranger Tab on Friday," the statement said. "The journey of Class 8-15 has been exciting and exhausting, and just as they trained as a team, they wish to celebrate as a team."
News of Griest and Haver's accomplishment comes in the same week as an announcement by top Navy leaders that the service plans to open its elite SEAL teams to women who can pass the grueling Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training.
What remains to be seen is whether the Army will open its infantry, armor and special operations ranks to women.
That decision isn't expected until the end of the year.
The Army has already opened its combat engineer and field artillery military occupational specialties to women.
"We owe soldiers the opportunity to serve successfully in any position where they are qualified and capable, and we continue to look for ways to select, train, and retain the best soldiers to meet our nation's needs," Army Secretary John McHugh said in a statement released Monday when the Army announced the upcoming Ranger School graduation.
Lt. Haver participates in rappel training on July 12 during the Ranger Course on Camp Merrill in Dahlonega, Ga.
Photo Credit: Pfc. Yvette Zabala-Garriga/Army
Both Griest and Haver are West Point graduates; Griest graduated in 2011, and Haver a year later, according to a report in the Ledger-Enquirer of Columbus, which is just outside Fort Benning.
In December, Griest, a member of the 716th Military Police Battalion, was selected as the distinguished honor graduate for a pre-Ranger assessment course run by 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, according to the MP battalion's Facebook page.
Haver's father on Wednesday confirmed to the Associated Press that his daughter is one of the two women graduating on Friday.
Chris Haver called his daughter's accomplishment "just amazing" and said, "I'm super proud," the AP reported.
Griest and Haver started Ranger School's Swamp Phase, the course's third and final phase, on Aug. 1 after three tries at the school's first phase, known as the Darby Phase, at Fort Benning, and one try at the second phase, known as the Mountain Phase, in Dahlonega, Georgia.
Much has been made about whether Griest and Haver — and any women who follow them, including a third woman who is currently working through her second try at the Mountain Phase — might be able to serve in the Army's combat arms units, including the famed 75th Ranger Regiment.
Ranger School is the Army's premier combat leadership course, teaching students how to overcome fatigue, hunger and stress to lead soldiers in small-unit combat operations, but it is separate from the 75th Ranger Regiment.
Soldiers who have earned Ranger Tabs, male or female, are not automatically part of the regiment, which has its own requirements and assessment process.
Michelle Tan is the editor of Army Times and Air Force Times. She has covered the military for Military Times since 2005, and has embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Haiti, Gabon and the Horn of Africa.
