A total of 60 women were originally slated to participate in Ranger Assessment Phase (RAP), according to the Pentagon in January. The Army Times reported in February that 100 women went into the pre-training phase, and in April, 19 women qualified for the Darby Phase.
Okay, let's make sure I get the math right. 100 women in pre-training, 60 got to assessment phase, 19 qualified for Darby Phase. So, of 100 applicants, 19 actually entered Ranger School. It appears that of those 19, only eight made it to the end of Darby.
Of the eight women, five were kicked out of training. Three others will be allowed to start over from the beginning of the first phase of Ranger School. Those three will start class on June 21.
I'm not sure where those numbers come from...pre-Ranger is done at home station, before getting sent to Benning.
The numbers I saw:
-19 total females made into Ranger school to start with. This means they showed up and passed the initial PT test. (I do wonder if they were pushed to the front of the line - it's a well known fact that the PT test graders on push-ups will look at the group that has already gotten a GO, decide the class is big enough, and then just count "38...38...38...38..." or whatever. You ain't getting a go. A buddy of mine was 3 reps short of a go (52 pushups back in my day)...for over 20 reps.)
-Of that 19, 8 survived RAP week to move on to Darby phse.
-All 8 were recyled after their first time through Darby phase.
-On the recycle, 5 of those 8 failed out completely, while 3 received Day One recycles.
Langenator my understanding is that the women were put through a special pre ranger training program that is usually reserved for army reserve personal to get them ready for ranger school.
They may have. Then again, my IOBC instructor (one each CPT Ring) turned that course into 16 weeks of pre-Ranger, and I spent another two months after that doing pre-Ranger PT while I went through the BFV leader course.
I still failed out in Mountain phase.
I say keep the standards, and let any female who meets the entry requirements have a go. And I doubt any of the females who tried and failed would want the standards lowered, either.
Langenator wrote:And am I a dick for thinking all Ranger students, regardless of gender, should have to shave their heads? One Army, one standard, and all that?
It's been my experience that after a couple of weeks in the field, everybody sports a #1. It just makes sense when you're wearing Kevlar. There used to be a time when every combat arms company was issued a Barber Kit, Company, Standard, as part of the TOE. The First Sergeant was in charge of it.
I could tell you horror stories about a grenadier named Hebert who was also a licensed barber. He's set up shop wherever he could find electricity. Or wherever he couldn't, he'd break out the scissors. Some of his haircuts were legendary.
Kommander wrote:You know if we wanted to be really brutal we could set it so that a certain percentage of the military must be female, but also must pass Aesop's requirements, and women would be continued to be drafted until said percentages were met.
I would agree, but I have a daughter now. Reality is we dont need any women in the military, young women need to be having babies instead of waiting and having fertility treatments in their late thirties early fourties.
RE: "Wimpy dudes" and PT standards, among other things. I enlisted right before my thirty-second birthday. I was a sedentary, Marlboro-smoking alcoholic back then, now I'm just sedentary, but I've been out for fifteen years. It was never my intention to be a Ranger, Green Beret, or Delta Force. I was not Infantry, Armor, nor EOD. I was Aviation, and a damn good avionics tech. I deployed to Desert Shield/Storm. Also did a year in a tent in Bosnia. I got out, after ten years, not because I was over 40, but because I did NOT want to become a desk jockey. E-6 or ETS, and I chose ETS. I did NOT want to become just another paper-shuffler, and that was what I would have been. I was more than capable of carrying my weight, literally and figuratively, and never failed an APFT. I served with a number of women, we weren't combat arms. Some were about what you'd expect, worthless wastes of time and training, one of whom came up pregnant right before the rest of us deployed to Bosnia. Others were capable, hard working, and knew their shit. I wouldn't want any of them to be in a Ranger battalion, but they WEREN'T. Nor was I. There were no women in the Company in Desert Storm, but there were a couple in the Battalion. Not so good. Bosnia, where our Blackhawks were basically flying trucks and taxis, was different. There were many more women in that unit, and for the most part, they were every bit as dependable as the men. We had this one, but there were at least five guys who were just as worthless. I know there's a bunch of PC BS behind women in the military, but some of the vitriol is just as unwarranted as the fawning from the other side. If she can meet the standards, and do the job, let her serve. SOME things will always be awkward when you have 250 people living in tents in the middle of nowhere, but they will be awkward even if it's 100% male. Do the job, do it well, carry your weight, don't be a dick, I have no problem with you. White, black, brown, yellow, or pink doesn't matter to me. It's the person and the performance. I have no truck with useless assholes of either gender.
Birds gotta swim, fish gotta fly, assholes gotta ass, until the day they die.
