Women will soon compete for Best Ranger, Grange says

On Day 2 of Best Ranger, the inspiration behind the competition says women will soon be vying for the coveted title.

The Best Ranger competition was formed in honor of retired Lt. Gen. David E. Grange Jr., a veteran of World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam.

During a visit to Fort Benning’s Todd Field on Saturday, Grange said he’s pleased with this year’s teams.

“It’s a nice mix of enlisted and commissioned folks,” he said. “All three teams up there now are all mixed with officers and enlisted NCOs. It shows you the quality of NCOs we’ve got.”

With the addition of two more women completing Ranger School last week and pushing the total to five with the coveted tab, Grange said there will be women in the competition soon.

“It’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s got to happen. In the top 20 within the next three years, we will have a woman in the top 20 teams.”

Grange is not sure how a team with a woman will be fielded in Best Ranger. A woman could be mixed with a man or two women on a team. “I don’t know how they are going to do that,” he said. “With the ranks they’ve got, we don’t care. There are going to be women there in the top 20.”

This story was originally published April 8, 2017 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Women will soon compete for Best Ranger, Grange says."