By Kyle Bigelow

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UK’s Army ROTC Wildcat Battalion in Barker Hall is a microcosm of the nation’s largest and oldest military branch. Cadets train for 2-to-4 years under officers — and each other — to earn both their degrees and a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant.

When two female officers graduated from Ranger School at Fort Benning, Ga., last Friday, the spotlight shone again on the armed forces to weigh-in on the demands of combat at its highest intensity.

“The Army’s always looking for the best qualified candidates, regardless,” professor of military science Maj. Thomas Krupp said. “The Army’s always changing with American culture.”

Krupp said roughly 20 percent of the total enrollment is female, and reflects the diverseness of the Army as a whole. And while the pervasive discussion of whether women are physically capable of upholding their responsibilities in a combat zone remains, when the question is framed as a matter of determination overcoming physiology, some cadets regard the accomplishment of the first female Rangers as a triumph.

“In order to train your certain muscle fibers to act like (men’s) muscle fibers … to convert and to train them to do that other job — like endurance versus short spurts — to convert it is a long training process,” cadet and kinesiology senior Rosemarie Bledsoe said. “You would have to train a lot to get to it. But it is doable, we see females do it all the time.”

Army ROTC cadets conduct group physical training for three hours per week. Exercises range from calisthenics to endurance runs to weight training, which all contribute to a soldier’s combat readiness.

“I think it’s a good thing they’re opening these options to females and moving forward. I think as long as everybody has the same standards, it’s a great thing,” cadet and psychology senior Megan Presley said. “Even with males, you don’t wake up one morning and say, ‘hey, I’m going to Ranger School,’ and I think it’s great the Army upholds these standards and holds people to them, regardless of gender.”

According to the U.S. Army recruiting website, soldiers in Ranger School train for over two months in rigorous physical and leadership exercises to hone their skills for combat.

“Our recruitment methods are, consistently: scholar, athlete, leader,” Krupp said. “Any walk of life. Any classification.”

The two women who graduated Ranger School, Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, did so after the school opened it’s doors to women in April.  Another female trainee, who has not been identified, entered the third and final stage of training on Friday.