Two female infantry officers completed the Army's rigorous Ranger School on Friday, along with 117 men, according to an Army spokesman.
The women are the first since October 2015, when Army Reserve Maj. Lisa Jaster became the third woman to earn the coveted Ranger Tab.
"These two female officers had previously graduated from the Infantry Basic Officer Leaders Course and continued their functional education courses, which includes attending the Army's premier leadership course, U.S. Army Ranger School," Ben Garrett told Army Times.
The women were two of 10 to graduate from the first integrated IBOLC course back in October, bringing the total number of Ranger-qualified women to five.
Following basic officer graduation, prospective infantry platoon leaders spend the next year at a series of schools and training, from Ranger and Airborne schools to the Stryker Leader Course and the Mechanized Leader Course.
Once they're ready for assignment, the women will be sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, or Fort Hood, Texas, where the Army is fielding its first gender-integrated infantry platoons.
Also in that pipeline are Capts. Kristen Griest and Shaye Haver, the first two women to finish Ranger school, in August 2015.
Griest and Haver transferred to the infantry from military police and aviation, respectively.
Meanwhile, Fort Benning's One Station Unit Training, the combined basic and advanced schools for enlisted infantrymen, is in the midst of its first gender-integrated class.
They are expected to graduate on May 19, Garrett said.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
