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Female US Army soldier makes history by becoming the first woman to become a Green Beret

In a major achievement for women in the armed forces, a soldier became the US Army's first female Green Beret Thursday, US Army Special Operations Command announced.

The female National Guard soldier, whose name is being withheld due to mission security concerns for special operations troops, graduated from Army Special Forces training, received her Special Forces Tab, and donned her Green Beret at a socially distanced ceremony at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Commanding General for US Army Special Operations Command Lt. Gen. Fran Beaudette told the graduating class Thursday that "from here, you will go forward and join the storied formation of the Green Berets where you will do what you are trained to do: challenge assumptions, break down barriers, smash through stereotypes, innovate, and achieve the impossible."Â

"Thankfully," the general said, "after today, our Green Beret Men and Women will forever stand in the hearts of free people everywhere."

The soldier, a Special Forces engineer sergeant, first completed an initial 24-day screening program before heading into the yearlong Special Forces Qualification Course (Q Course), The New York Times, which first reported her graduation, reported Thursday.

She completed the final assessment, the culminating Robin Sage exercise that tests soldiers on skills essential to being a Green Beret, in mid-June.

The Pentagon opened all combat positions in the armed forces to women in late 2015.

"They'll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at the time. "They'll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers, and everything else that was previously open only to men."

Since then, women have begun to fill previously restricted roles, the exception being the Special Forces. These elite troops wage unconventional warfare, and their training is especially demanding. Special Forces has been one of the few remaining all-male warfighting communities.

While the woman that graduated Thursday is the first to become a Green Beret, she is not the first woman to graduate from the training program.

In the early 1980s, a woman named Capt. Kate Wilder completed Special Forces training, but she was forced out at the last minute. The Army later sent her a graduation certificate after an investigation upheld her discrimination complaint and determined that she was wrongfully denied graduation.

But Wilder, who left the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 2003, never joined the Green Berets.

"It isn't important that I wear the hat," she told the AP after graduating. "I'm not at all hung up on a hat like a lot of the men are ... What matters is that I'm officially qualified."

A senior Army official previously told Military.com that the woman who graduated Thursday "excelled throughout the course and earned the respect of both her instructors and her peer group."

I quit reading after I saw nasty guard

Bullshit. Did she pick up a man loaded out with his kit and carry him off the 'field of battle' in training???????

Drop the standards enough, and anybody can be a Green Beret! Barry Sadler is rolling over in his grave.

Define man?

Bb

Sure would like to get a couple of her classmates drunk, and get the real story.

A wiry 5'6" Indian loaded out - that's still a heavy load.

Ygtbsm

Same.....

However no damn way she completed the course without reduced standards! Of course the instructors and peer group are going to say she did great to kiss up to the brass......ask them in private what they think Im sure you would get a different story.

Also never saw the sense of allowing "part time" guard soldiers into such training or MOS 's.....those are skill sets that need to be trained on alot more then a guard schedule allows to maintain the sharpness that the missions require, not to mention the added cohesiveness of a unit that is together 24/7 365 and training together often.

This was the byproduct of MG Sontag who got told to retire last year, thank god. He unilaterally changed the course to his liking. Once a student passed the initial selection, cadre were not allowed to drop anyone only recycle. There are legitimate reasons for recycles and reasons someone should not go forward if they cannot pass that phase of training. Some things a recycle will not cure. They changed the cadre system also and went from branches with an OIC and cadre onsite to a company system to give the officers a chance at commands. So the commanders are pushing company paperwork on main Fort Bragg (soon to be Fort Obama I am sure) instead of overseeing the instruction onsite. The standards are and have been for 45 lb ruck for 12 and 25 miles (cakewalk), which is way lighter than normally carried on teams. I have jumped in with 140 lb ruck and carried it for weeks. She will not make it on a team for sure. Just not physically able to hold up.

Katie Wilder got her Captain boyfriend at the Pentagon to cut DA orders to put her in the course without Special Warfare Centers approval. She failed numerous tasks and was kicked out and did not complete the course, but screamed sexism because at that time they allowed some males to graduate that should not have too. Which was another problem. A DA investigation gave her the beret. It did not help that an old school SF colonel or two told her what they thought of her that ended up in the investigation. When the Army wants more SF the Commanding General seeing another star, always wants to change the standards to make it easier to pass and that never works out. Plus with the constant deployments now and total Army BS guys are getting out left and right making big money as contractors (up to $2000 a day for 90 day deployments). Most medics go on to either PA or med school also.

Not all Guardsmen are part timers. Their is a sizable contingent of Active Guard/Reserve (AGR) members who provide continuity for their assigned units. They can range from admin support to cyber operators to fighter pilots and plumbers. They have all of the same pay and benefits as regular active duty troops.

Aware of that, however I was speaking in general terms, not this case in particular. Have known of several part timers sent to warfare schools that didnt make sense to me.

Wow! Your info makes it even more BS!!!

You get five Green Berets out in the bush on a 14 day mission, one is female. Young folks in great shape. By nature, horny.
Around 1 am the hormones kick in and somebody is going to be screwing somebody. It is human nature.

It is why we are alive. Young healthy people are driven to screw, even with people they don't really like. A 25 year old gal who has been banged previously by several guys wants it even more than the young man does.
The other 3 guys realize that the one guy is banging the gal, they get jealous. Very very bad vibes.

This is why females should not be sent out on these combat missions.

jfc. I figured she was aided by some cs political brass

Not for lowering standards at all but this women has my highest respect.

We lost a good one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-syria-was-torn-between-family-and-duty/

I have talked with some SF and they liked the idea of a woman being inserted covertly.

The guys I know in SF don't want the standards lowered and don't want unqualified women inserted with them. Just more liabilities.

Oh for fugk sake.