More than 30 women have been selected for a potential Ranger Course Assessment next spring, Fort Benning announced.
The Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade chose 20 NCOs and 11 officers as observers and advisers for the assessment, according to a Facebook post on Monday by the Maneuver Center of Excellence at the post in Georgia.
The female soldiers were put through a week of training to acclimate them to the rigorous physical and mental challenges for soldiers earning the Ranger tab.
If the assessment takes place, both female and male soldiers would take part, and female soldiers would also be observers and advisers for the cadre leading the course.
By January, the decision will be made whether to conduct the assessment, officials said.
"I was very satisfied with both the quality and quantity of the volunteers we received," said Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence, in the Facebook post. "Their performance and professionalism over the course of the week was extraordinary. This group did very well for what was a very physically challenging week for any Soldier."
"We had a lot of high performing individuals participate in the training this week," said Col. David Fivecoat, commander of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade. "The Ranger Training Brigade put them through some of the events that Ranger students attempt during Ranger training, interviewed them, and have selected the most qualified to return and work with us as advisors and observers."
"Our Ranger Instructors displayed the professionalism that is expected from our Officers and Non Commissioned Officers," sai
Command Sgt. Maj. Curtis Arnold Jr., of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, said in the announcement that the candidates had "the most challenging, professional and rewarding experience of their careers."
The Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, which runs Ranger school, has been preparing for the possible integrated course, said the brigade's commander, Col. David Fivecoat, in a September interview with Army Times.
Col. David Fivecoat, commander of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade.inPossible changes include altering barracks, latrines and showers to accommodate female students, and looking at medical pre-screening and different requirements for females.
Women selected to be part of a Ranger Course assessment go through training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Photo Credit: Army
He said the observer/advisers will serve as extra eyes and ears and as a sounding board for the Ranger instructors, but they will not evaluate or grade Ranger school students.
"We thought it would be helpful to bring women into the course prior to the arrival of the first women students" to ease "isolation" issues or concerns among female students, Fivecoat said, to give them "an opportunity to succeed."
The Ranger Course is 62 days in three phases: the Benning Phase, the mountain phase in Dahlonega, Georgia, and the swamp/jungle phase at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
During each phase Ranger students must receive a "passing grade" in one leadership position during a patrol, a positive peer review and no more than three major negative spot reports. In addition, they must successfully complete the Ranger Physical Assessment, a 12-mile road march, a land navigation course and the Combat Water Survival Assessment.
