Female soldier becomes the first woman to compete in the grueling Army Ranger contest [View all]

Source: AP

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Updated 6:17 PM CDT, April 14, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — A female Army Ranger for the first time competed in the annual Best Ranger Competition, and her two-soldier team finished the grueling three-day event over the weekend and came in 14th overall.

First Lt. Gabrielle White, and her teammate, Capt. Seth Deltenre, were among the 16 teams that made it through the final events, where Ranger teams compete for accolades as the best of the elite military force. All together, 52 teams competed and all of the others were made up of only male soldiers.

The two Rangers on the winning team were 1st Lt. Griff Hokanson and 1st Lt. Kevin Moore — both are members of the 75th Ranger Regiment. White and Deltenre are based at the Army Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Female soldiers were not allowed to be Army Rangers until 2015, when the Army opened Ranger school to women. In August 2015, two female soldiers completed the Ranger course for the first time. Later that year, the Defense Department opened all combat jobs to women.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/army-ranger-competition-female-first-7182c5659e04162a4476eae2113b15d7