5 women may join spring Ranger training course

After completing a grueling pre-Ranger course a week ago, five female soldiers may potentially be among the first to attend the U.S. Army Ranger Course in the spring, Fort Benning officials said Friday.

Twenty-six female soldiers took part in the Ranger Training Assessment Course that included a combined 122 males and females. The five successful women accounted for 19 percent of the group, while 48 percent of all soldiers were successful, which is about average.

All of the five women are commissioned officers, including one major and four first lieutenants. One is a combat engineer, two are field artillery officers and another is a medical service corps officer.

Less than three months before the first Ranger Course Assessment for male and females begins on April 20, post officials had hoped to fill 40 slots with females in four pre-Ranger courses but haven't topped 40 women soldiers in the first two classes.

Any female soldier who is interested in going through the Ranger course must successfully complete the RTAC training to move forward, said Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, during a roundtable with local military and nation

al reporters.

"If they do not meet the prerequisite of the Ranger Assessment Course, I am not recommending that we move forward in the Ranger course," Miller said.

The post commander said there will be 300 to 400 soldiers taking part in what he described as a starter Ranger course where attrition will go up to 50 percent and in some cases exceed 50 percent. "The success rate for individuals who enter the course is below 50 percent as we go forward," Miller said. "Keep in mind as we make our way toward the start date, the standards are quite high. We have no intentions of changing the standards."

When asked about the challenges facing the female and male soldiers, Miller said males and females struggle with pushups in the physical fitness test. "It's very strict standards," he said.

Maj. Shep Woodard, who trains soldiers at the Army National Guard's Warrior Training Center, said the PT test across the board is the cause of failures for men and women.

Col. David Fivecoat, commander of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, said the Ranger PT test consists of 49 pushups, 59 sit-ups, a five-mile run in 40 minutes and six chin-ups. "It is designed to test the overall physical ability of potential Ranger students to successfully complete the Ranger course," he said. "It is a bit different than the standard Army PT test. It's a little bit different."

The first phase of the two-week course mirrors the assessment phase at the Ranger School. In addition to the PT test, students conduct a swim test, land navigation and a six-mile foot march. The second phase trains soldiers on troop leading procedures and patrolling skills.

Most soldiers lose 20-30 pounds during the grueling training.

The second pre-Ranger course starts this weekend. Officials said 21 women had signed up by Friday afternoon on a staggered enrollment. The third course is set for March 6-21, and the last is April 3-18.

Miller said he is impressed with the pre-requisite training but can't predict how many women will be cleared for the Ranger course in April. "I told people it's going to be hard to predict," he said.

"You got to start laying it out through actions. To me the right number are those best prepared to be successful in the course. We will keep proceeding along that line as we go to the next Ranger Training Assessment Course."

This story was originally published February 6, 2015 at 10:58 PM with the headline "5 women may join spring Ranger training course."