2 Women Make History By Graduating from Army Ranger Course — But Why So Few?

This was the first year that women were allowed to participate in the course, and 24 percent of men finished the grueling training, while 10 percent of women did. (Photo: Getty Images)

For the first time in history, two female soldiers have passed the U.S. Army’s Ranger training and will graduate this Friday, the military announced late Monday.

This was the first year the Army opened the Ranger course to women, which is one of the military’s most elite programs.

The graduates were part of a class that began with 19 women and 381 men. Only the two women, who have not been identified, and 94 men successfully completed the course. That equates to 24 percent of men finishing the grueling training, while only 10 percent of the women did.

Ranger training is a 62-day course on leadership and small unit tactics which “pushes Ranger students to their mental and physical limits by forcing them to operate on minimal food and sleep,” the Army said in a press release.

Approximately 34 percent of students who enter the school recycle (i.e. do over) at least one portion of the course, and the Army announced in June that three women were continuing on through Ranger training and doing a recycle.

The training is no joke — physically or mentally — and it’s considered the Army’s most physically challenging course.

During training, soldiers learn how to navigate three different environments: woodlands, mountainous terrain, and a coastal swamp. They must also complete a physical fitness test of 49 push-ups, 59 sit-ups, a five-mile run in 40 minutes, six chin-ups, a swim test, a land navigation test, a 12-mile foot march in three hours, several obstacle courses, four days of military mountaineering, three parachute jumps, four air assaults on helicopters, multiple rubber boat movements, and 27 days of mock combat patrols.

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“This course has proven that every soldier, regardless of gender, can achieve his or her full potential,” Army Secretary John M. McHugh said in the press release. “We owe soldiers the opportunity to serve successfully in any position where they are qualified and capable, and we continue to look for ways to select, train, and retain the best soldiers to meet our nation’s needs.“

The Army calls this a move to “assess female soldier performance” in the Ranger course as part of an ongoing effort dubbed “Soldier 2020,” which was designed to allow the Army’s most qualified solders to serve in any position where they are capable, regardless of their gender.

While this historic feat is impressive, why did so few women pass the course compared to men?

It could be due to a mixture of physical strength and mental preparedness, says fitness expert and certified trainer John Rowley, director of wellness for the International Sports Sciences Association and author of The Power of Positive Fitness.

“Men are physically stronger than women and that would give the men an advantage with the strength aspects of the course,” he tells Yahoo Health. “But if a woman is in good physical condition, I think the edge that men have can be lessened quite a bit.”

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The strength-based elements in particular might be more challenging for women, Doug Sklar, a certified personal trainer and founder of New York City-based fitness training studio PhilanthroFIT, tells Yahoo Health.

“It’s just due to the fact that men typically have a much higher ratio of muscle mass to body weight,” he says, making it more difficult for women in the course to complete exercises that involve carrying heavy objects. “It’s going to be easier for someone who weighs 200 pounds to carry 100 pounds of weight vs. someone who weighs 120 pounds,” Sklar says.

But, as the women who passed the course proved, it all comes down to who is the best able to tackle the course — regardless of gender. “The bottom line is the stronger, fitter, more determined person will have the advantage here,” Rowley says.

While the new feat is historic, female graduates will not be able to join the infantry and other front-line troops like their male comrades. They are currently off-limits to women — for now, at least.

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