[Webstral]

Ranger School is not an infantry school, though infantry tactics and training are the vehicle by which learning is acquired. Ranger School is a leadership school. What happens in Ranger School and what happens in the Ranger Regiment are very, very different. There is a certain logic to having women be tabbed [wear the Ranger tab above their unit patch, signifying graduation from Ranger school] if they are going to be in leadership positions and they are competing for promotion with men who can be expected to be tabbed. If the male leaders in a given MOS generally are not tabbed, then there is no compelling reason to open the school to women from that MOS. In other words, if male artillery crews and MPs are attending Ranger School, then it's hard to justify keeping the women out.

I'm still not ready to see women in tank crews and infantry squads. Call me old fashioned. The shenanigans caused by having women in any unit can add up to real problems. Men in their late teens have enough maturity challenges without adding more. While this might be tolerable in combat support and combat service support units, I cringe to think of the effect on the infantry and tankers. I say this as a man who served in MI for three years in a variety of positions, mostly under female supervisors.