The Army is looking for female soldiers who want to volunteer to attend Ranger school.

The call-out is part of the Army's ongoing effort to determine whether and how to open combat arms military occupational specialties to women.

Senior Army leaders are expected to decide in January if they want to move forward with this one-time, integrated Ranger school assessment. If the assessment moves forward, it likely will take place in the spring, and the Army will need volunteers already in place and ready to go, officials said Friday.

If the assessment takes place, it will be a first for the storied Ranger school, which until now has been open only to men.

"Right now we're going through the deliberate planning process, identifying volunteers, and selecting them over the next few months," said Lt. Col. Alayne Conway, an Army spokeswoman. "In January, we'll determine the feasibility of conducting an assessment of the Ranger course in the spring of 2015."

As part of this potential assessment, the Army is seeking two groups of volunteers, as outlined in two separate All-Army Activity messages.

First, the Army is seeking female soldiers who want to attend Ranger school as students. Women in the ranks of specialist through major can apply. They must meet the physical qualifications and prerequisites required to attend Ranger School.

If selected, female volunteers who successfully complete and graduate from Ranger school will receive a graduation certificate and be awarded and authorized to wear the Ranger tab. However, pending future decisions about whether women will be allowed to serve in combat arms MOSs, they will not receive the associated Ranger skill identifiers or be assigned to Ranger coded units or positions.

Second, female soldiers can volunteer to serve as observers and advisors to the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade. These slots are open to staff sergeants through master sergeants, chief warrant officers 2 and 3, and first lieutenants through majors.

These volunteers will not be Ranger instructors, and they won't evaluate students in the course.

Deadline to apply

Selection packets for both groups of soldiers are due Oct. 10. Interested soldiers should work with their personnel officers and chain of command to submit their applications, according to the Army.

Potential participants will be identified in December, according to the Army.

The service has not determined how many volunteers it needs, said Lt. Col. Ben Garrett, an Army spokesman.

Part of the reason the Army is seeking volunteers and casting a wide net likely also is to determine the level of interest among female soldiers, officials said.

If approved, the Ranger course assessment will have male and female soldiers training together, according to the Army. The standards will remain the same, and there will be no change to current performance requirements or graduation standards, officials said.

"We will be prepared to execute the assessment professionally and objectively if directed," said Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning, Georgia, in a statement.

All female candidates selected for the course will be required to attend the Army National Guard Ranger Training and Assessment Course at Fort Benning before the start of their Ranger school class.

The two-month Ranger school has three phases — Fort Benning, then Dahlonega, Georgia, and finally Camp James E. Rudder in Florida.

The course has a graduation rate of about 50 percent, and as many as 60 percent of all Ranger school failures happen in the first four days.

Physical requirements to attend Ranger school include completing at least 49 pushups in two minutes, at least 59 sit-ups in two minutes, at least six pull-ups, and a five-mile run in 40 minutes or less. Candidates also are required to complete a combat water survival assessment consisting of equipment removal and 15-meter swim in the Army Combat Uniform and boots.

These physical qualification tests must be done within 90 days of reporting to Ranger school.

Enlisted applicants must have a standard General Technical score of 90 or higher and 12 months or more active-duty service remaining after completion of Ranger school.

Women who volunteer to serve as observers must undergo a selection process that includes a fitness test, land navigation, a combat water survival assessment, an operations order test, as 12-mile road march with a 35-pound ruck, and review boards, according to the Army.

Michelle Tan is the editor of Army Times and Air Force Times. She has covered the military for Military Times since 2005, and has embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Haiti, Gabon and the Horn of Africa.

Share:
In Other News
Load More