The only woman currently in U.S. Army Ranger School will have to repeat the final phase of the course, along with 20 male candidates, the service announced.
The West Point graduate, who hasn't been identified, is one the original 19 female soldiers who volunteered for the Army's first co-ed class of Ranger School on April 20.
Two of her classmates -- Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver -- earned their Ranger Tabs Aug. 21 in a historic ceremony at Fort Benning, Georgia.
If the third woman makes it to graduation, she will have recycled all three phases of the grueling 62-day infantry leadership course.
During the three-phase course, the students learn how to operate in three environments -- woodlands in Fort Benning, mountainous terrain in Dahlonega, Georgia, and coastal swamp at Camp Rudder in Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
The third phase, known as "swamp phase," is located in the coastal swamp environment near Valparaiso, Florida.
The phase consists of two jumps for airborne qualified personnel; four days of waterborne operations; small boat movements and stream crossings and a 10-day field training exercise with student-led patrols.
Over the past two years, only about 40 percent of men successfully completed the course, according to officials from the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, which runs the program.
--Matthew Cox can be reached at Matthew.Cox@military.com.
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