A female soldier on Thursday became the first to join the Green Berets after a years long effort to get women into front line combat jobs....
A female soldier on Thursday became the first to join the Green Berets after a years long effort to get women into front line combat jobs.
The National Guard member, who was not identified under US military privacy rules, graduated after completing the Armed Special Forces qualification course at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, along with 400 other service members.
Defense officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the female soldier is a member of the National Guard. She was allowed to train for the Green Berets after the Pentagon opened all combat jobs to women in 2016.
A female soldier on Thursday became the first to join the Green Berets (pictured) after a years long effort to get women into front line combat jobs
The National Guard member, who was not identified under US military privacy rules, graduated after completing the Armed Special Forces qualification course at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, along with 400 other service members
The soldier originally was expected to graduate in April, but was forced to do over a portion of her training known as Robin Sage that tests candidates on various skills that are required for the job, the New York Times reports.
The woman, after completing her training, accepted her Special Forces tab and officially donned her Green Beret for the first time during a graduation ceremony Thursday.
Social distancing was practiced during the ceremony, due to the coronanvirus pandemic.
Lt. Gen. Fran Beaudette, commander of Army Special Operations Command, presided over the ceremony and proclaimed for the first time, that 'our Green Beret men and women will forever stand in the hearts of free people everywhere'.
'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,' he said.
The Army does not release the identities of its commandos or disclose to which special forces group they will be assigned.
There are currently more than 6,700 Green Berets. The highly trained commandos usually work in 12-person teams and are often used for specialized combat and counterterrorism operations.
The Green Berets also are relied upon by the US to train other nations' forces in battle skills. Many work with Afghan forces fighting the Taliban or are training troops in up to 60 countries.
The path to becoming a Green Beret consists of several phases, beginning with a grueling assessment and selection phase where commanders believe they can identify soldiers who cannot make the grade or do not belong.
There are currently more than 6,700 Green Berets. The highly trained commandos usually work in 12-person teams and are often used for specialized combat and counterterrorism operations. Greet Berets pictured fire a rocket during a training exercise in Iraq this past May
The bulk of those who try out fail. Some who get injured or fail are allowed to return and try again.
A ban on women becoming Green Berets was lifted by President Barack Obama 's defense secretary, Ash Carter, in 2015.
In 2016, the Pentagon officially opened all combat and Special Operations jobs to women but no one has, until now, ever qualified to serve in those units.
Several women have attempted to join the elite special forces, some of them coming very close.
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