The U.S. Army announced Wednesday that five out of 26 women passed its preparatory course for the next Ranger School cycle.
The two-week Ranger Training Assessment Course was held on Jan. 30 at Fort. Benning, Ga., and resulted in 58 out of 122 soldiers (48 percent) passing, with 43 men and 21 women dropping out, according to Army Times. A total of 53 men participated, and 55 percent of them completed the course.
All five women who passed the course were officers.
The course is designed to give soldiers an extra chance to pass Ranger School, The Washington Times reported. Soldiers will be able to take the preparatory course from now until April, and the Army hopes to have 40 women pass.
"The first iteration of an integrated RTAC has provided significant lessons learned as we conduct a deliberate and professional way forward to the integrated assessment in April," said Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning.
The assessment was originally open only to men, but it has since been opened to women as a way for them to find more jobs involving combat arms, Army Times reported. Women who complete Ranger School will be awarded with a certificate and the Ranger tab.
The Army conducts RTAC in two phases, the first consisting of a PT test, a swim test, land navigation, and a 6-mile foot march aimed at testing soldiers' physical and mental abilities. The second phase will assess and train soldiers on patrolling and leading troops in a field training exercise.
Three more iterations of RTAC will be held before the Ranger Course Assessment, which starts on April 20, WTVM reported. The next iteration will take place on Friday and last for two weeks, and the following two are scheduled for March 6-21 and April 3-18.
