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US army opens gruelling ranger school to women soldiers
Opening up gruelling training part of policy to let female troops into ground combat
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 16 September, 2014, 10:46pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 16 September, 2014, 10:46pm
Agence France-Presse in Washington
A female US soldier manning a machine gun on a vehicle during clashes in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Photo: AFP
The US Army is inviting women soldiers to apply to its gruelling ranger school as part of the military's effort to open the door to women serving in ground combat roles.
The special-operations school has been closed to women until now. But the army wants to study the possibility of introducing women troops, reflecting new rules in the US military designed to permit them to work in more jobs closer to front lines.
To perform a one-time assessment, the army has the put out a call for women volunteers who - if the plan goes ahead - would enter the two-month course in next spring.
"The ranger assessment course would train men and women together in order to help prepare institutions, schools and leaders for future integration decisions," the army said.
Opponents of lifting restrictions on women in combat argue that female soldiers lack the physical strength to perform the tasks required in a frontline infantry unit.
But officers said the standards for the course at Fort Benning in Georgia would not be altered for the female candidates.
In the rugged woods of Georgia and the swamps of Florida, soldiers at the ranger school are put through a demanding regimen, performing long-distance patrols, simulated raids and parachute jumps while under intense physical and psychological stress. The troops typically train for 20 hours a day. About half of those taking the course fail.
The ranger school is designed to test leadership skills for a small unit under severe conditions, and the training brigade handbook carries the motto: "Not for the weak or faint-hearted."
The army said it was asking for women volunteers to take part in the course, as well as a second group of female observers and advisers. It was still unclear how many women would be selected for the pilot project.
Graduating from the ranger school does not necessarily mean a soldier serves in the army's elite ranger battalion special operations units.
Women in the US military already serve as combat pilots, officers on naval warships and as medics and intelligence officers. But women are prohibited from serving in the most dangerous ground combat jobs, including the special operations forces.
