A female Army Ranger competed for the first time in one of the military’s most grueling tests of physical fitness, besting many of her male counterparts and challenging assertions by the U.S. secretary of defense regarding women’s abilities to perform at the highest levels.
First Lt. Gabrielle White and her teammate, Capt. Seth Deltenre, placed 14th out of 52 teams during the weekend’s Best Ranger Competition, a three-day event in Georgia at which some of the Army’s most elite soldiers compete in land navigation, marksmanship and an array of physically strenuous tasks.
Lieutenant White was the first woman to participate in the four decades that the event has been held. Her team’s achievement — she and Captain Deltenre finished among the top competitors after 36 other pairs were eliminated — came less than a decade after women were first granted access to the Army’s Ranger School, a rigorous monthslong course with a high rate of failure.
Some saw Lieutenant White’s performance at the competition as a rejoinder, however unintended, to comments by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth questioning the abilities of women in the military.
“I saw a three-day public display of what we’ve been saying for 10 years,” said Kris Fuhr, a West Point graduate who was instrumental in integrating women into the Ranger School at Fort Benning in 2015.
Mr. Hegseth, a former National Guard infantryman and Fox News host, has spoken critically of the inclusion of women in combat roles.
“I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles,” he said on a podcast in November. “It hasn’t made us more effective. Hasn’t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated.”
In a recent book, “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” Mr. Hegseth wrote that “women cannot physically meet the same standards as men.”
“Dads push us to take risks,” he wrote. “Moms put the training wheels on our bikes. We need moms. But not in the military, especially in combat units.”
The Best Ranger Competition outcome suggests otherwise, said Ms. Fuhr, who left the military with the rank of captain. “This administration sometimes makes decisions based on misinformation and myths,” she said. “Military policy should not be based on either of those.”
Mr. Hegseth, who is not a graduate of the Ranger School — considered a basic course for infantry officers — later disavowed some of his comments. “If we have the right standard and women meet that standard, roger, let’s go,” he said.
The Trump administration has called for an end to diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government and in the armed forces.
Women’s integration into Ranger School and combat roles has been hotly debated and still stirs controversy among some people who claim that standards have been lowered for women.
The first women graduated from the Ranger course in August 2015, shortly before Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter announced that the Pentagon would open all military positions to women. Though women had served on the front lines for decades, they were barred from direct combat roles such as armor or infantry officers until December 2015.
According to the Army, 154 women have graduated from Ranger School as of January 2025. Data released in 2022 showed that women accounted for 15.7 percent of the active-duty soldiers.
Jeffrey Mellinger, a retired command sergeant major who served in the 75th Ranger Regiment, attended this year’s Ranger competition as a spectator.
“There is not another competition anywhere in the world that comes close to the mental and physical exertion of this competition,” he said. He compared it to a combination of an Ironman triathlon, a CrossFit competition and multiple marathons.
Sergeant Major Mellinger was deeply involved in an advisory board for integrating women into Ranger School and insists that no standards have been lowered.
Until she was pointed out by another onlooker, he said, he would not have noticed any difference between Lieutenant White and the male competitors, save for “a bun on the back of a head.”
“She had the skill and the physical ability to get it done,” he said.
Sergeant Major Mellinger said Lieutenant White’s coveted Ranger tab, an embroidered patch signifying the wearer’s qualification, was a commitment. “She still has to earn it every day, like every other ranger, like every other soldier,” he said.
Lieutenant White, an infantry officer, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2021. She completed Ranger School in April 2022 and is assigned to the Maneuver Captains Career Course, which trains officers in combat arms roles, according to the Army.
John Ismay contributed reporting.
Eve Sampson is a reporter covering international news and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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