US Army Lieutenant Shaye Haver and Captain Kristen Griest, certified badasses of the highest order, graduated from Ranger School on Friday.
During a ceremony at Fort Benning in Georgia, Griest and Haver became the first women in history to wear the coveted Ranger Tab — a sign they've completed the US Army's notoriously body-punishing, sleep-depriving, 90-pound-pack-carrying, parachute-jumping, harsh-terrain-navigating test of mental and physical strength.
The course lasts at least 62 days, although it can take much longer, since soldiers who fail a task can "recycle" into the next class.
Griest and Haver took four months to finish the course. They were evaluated on the same standards as male soldiers. Officers at Fort Benning pushed back hard on social media against rumors that standards had been lowered for women. Now, the Defense Department has released footage of women and men training alongside each other at Ranger School in April 2015.
Those sure don't look like lowered standards. You can spot Haver in both videos, but not Griest. (Go to 1:57-2:05 in video one, and 0:15-0:22 in video two.)
Here are full videos:
Griest and Haver finished Ranger School just as the US military approached a deadline of its own.
Oct. 1 is the last day for branches of the US armed services to request that women remain banned from particular combat positions. The 2011 Defense Authorization Act ended the ban on women serving in direct combat roles, but granted the armed services three years to study the issue and to request exemptions for some combat positions. That time's up, and it's time to settle things.
For now, Griest and Haver wear their Ranger Tabs but remain barred from the 75th Ranger Regiment, but their graduation puts pressure on branches that are considering exemption requests.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, made it sound like it would be difficult for branches to request exemptions.
"The Department's policy is that all ground combat positions will be open to women unless rigorous analysis of factual data shows that the positions must remain closed," he said.
The US Navy has already announced that it's not planning to seek exemptions — not even for Navy SEAL units.
SEE ALSO: These 2 badass female Army Rangers just made history — here's the grueling training they endured
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