Haver took command of a rifle company in the 82nd Airborne Division in 2018, and she has since been promoted to major. A year later, Griest became the ArmyвЂ™s first female infantry officer. Gender integration into combat arms kicked off in August 2015 when captains Kristen Griest and Shaye Haver became the first women to graduate Ranger School, one of the most grueling military courses in the world.

As long as the standards donвЂ™t change, let the best person compete.вЂќ вЂњThe Army is changing, itвЂ™s evolving, itвЂ™s growing, weвЂ™re making sure we have the best people for the job. ItвЂ™s вЂMaybe women shouldnвЂ™t be in combat arms,вЂ™ but at the end of the day, a capable soldier is a capable soldier,вЂќ Bowen said. вЂњI think in general people have their own perceptions of what a female officer is going to be. The companyвЂ™s history traces back to Confederate general Stonewall JacksonвЂ™s brigade. She is one of the first black women to take command of a rifle company in the National Guard and the first female infantry commander in Virginia. Candice Bowen took command of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, last month. Now, five years later, women have expanded their footprint in combat arms and are taking command of units that have been exclusively male for centuries.Д¬apt. The initiative garnered a good deal of media attention for female вЂњfirstsвЂќ throughout the force. WASHINGTON - The Army has been slowly integrating women into ground combat units since the Defense Department opened all military jobs to all troops in 2015.

Women in combat arms