http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/10/ ... -army.html Sgt. Sherri Gallagher of Fort Benning, was named the U.S. Army’s Soldier of the Year, the first woman to receive that honor. The rifle shooting competition was likely the least stressful part for Gallagher, a shooter/instructor for the Army Marksmanship Unit. Gallagher, who hopes to compete in the Olympic Games, has 21 national rifle shooting records. She comes from competitive shooters and first handled a rifle at the age of 5. Gallagher and Tompkins are the only women to ever win the National High-Power Rifle Championship. “She was always around guns,†said Tompkins, a marksman who has won five national shooting titles. Gallagher, who will begin Airborne training when she returns, was quoted by the PAO as saying, “I’m always more comfortable with a gun in my hand.
Congrats to Gallgher! On the other hand I've known more than one woman I wanted to throw out of an airplane....
http://www.bragg.army.mil/AbnRecruiting/history.htm On 14 December, 1973 another milestone in Airborne history was established when Privates Joyce Kutsch and Rita Johnson became the first women to graduate from the Basic Airborne Course. Following graduation from a modified, but rigorous, airborne course the two women successfully completed the U.S. Army Quartermaster School Parachute Rigger Course and were assigned to Aerial Delivery Companies at Fort Bragg, NC. Since then, women do not attend a modified airborne course, but complete the full course and meet the same standards as their male counterparts.
I tried twice to complete airborne training (Ft Bragg and Ft. Benning). I fractured an arm the first time, and and ankle the second. On the second attempt, women passed me by. They can do every bit of Airborne Training!
It's been about 7 years since I left Airborne School, but this statement is somewhat misleading. Women do not meet the same standards as the men, at least not the physical standards, pushups, situps, pullups, and run.