How did these two women become the first to complete Army Ranger School?

The two women who will graduate Friday from the Army’s Ranger School did not seem particularly destined to break that gender barrier. Both were strong students and gifted athletes, like many others who emerge from high schools across the country every year. But they made their mark on the U.S. military this week by tapping rare levels of determination that intensified over time.

First Lt. Shaye Haver, 25, was a star high school soccer player in Texas, making the varsity team as a freshman. She learned to fly an Apache helicopter like her father. First Lt. Kristen Griest, 26, ran cross-country in Connecticut before applying to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., where she would cross paths with Haver for the first time.

Both failed the initial phase of Ranger School but kept trying even as others elected to drop out. On Friday, the two will become the first women to wear the elite Ranger Tab on their uniforms, after exhibiting degrees of perseverance that brought pride to past mentors.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-did-these-two-women-become-the-first-to-complete-army-rangers-school/2015/08/19/a745c962-46af-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html?hpid=z1