First Lt. Gabrielle White is the first female soldier in U.S. Army history to have successfully finished the extremely difficult Best Ranger Competition.
The 25-year-old West Point graduate became the first female Ranger to participate in the annual three-day, 30-event marathon, which took place at Fort Benning, Georgia in early April.
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52 two-person teams participated in a range of exercises, including weapon qualification, land navigation, helicopter operations, and different physical testing, and White was the only woman on any of the teams. Despite other teams dropping out, White and her teammate Capt. Seth Deltenre advanced to the finals and finished in 14th place. As reported by NBC News, the competition consisted of 103 males and only one woman.
White climbed ropes, slogged through mud, performed pull-ups, and swam across water in the most demanding challenges.
The marathon pushed contestants’ physical and cognitive strength, with only around four hours of rest every day. By the last day, only 16 of the original 52 teams remained in the game, including White and her partner, Deltenre.
White has already established herself as a trailblazer by becoming a Ranger and graduating from Ranger school in 2022. Ranger school opened to female soldiers in 2015 and the military abolished its restriction on women serving in combat capacities the same year during the Obama administration.
According to the Army, White is an infantry officer posted to B Company, 3rd Battalion, 81st Armored Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade, Maneuver Captains Career Course.
She has received the Air Assault Badge, the Ranger Tab, the Army Service Ribbon, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and two Army Commendation Medals.
An Army spokesperson, Patrick Albright, who spoke with NBC News, did not say if she would be recognized for her accomplishment.
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According to CBS News, the Army will not mention the historic first in a story or press release this year, as it has in past years.
The Pentagon has outlawed anything that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion under President Donald Trump and Defense Secretry Pete Hegseth. References to historic firsts by women and minorities were mainly removed from the military’s social media posts and websites during the recent purge.
