Kristen Marie Griest

Kristen Marie Griest
Allegiance  United States of America
Service/branch  United States Army
Infantry
Rank Captain
Awards Ranger

Kristen Marie Griest is one of the two first women, along with Shaye Lynne Haver, to ever graduate from the US Army Ranger School, which occurred on 21 August 2015.[1][2][3] Griest and Haver were ranked 34th on Fortune magazine's 2016 list of the World's Greatest Leaders.[4]

Early life and education

Griest attended a high school in Woodbridge, CT, where she ran track and played softball.[5] She is a member of Orange Congregational Church in Orange, CT.[5]

Military career

Griest graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2011.[6][5] She also served in Afghanistan[5] as a military police officer. [7]

Griest began Ranger training in the spring of 2015 as part of a one-time pilot program to see how women would do in Ranger School. She started the course with 19 other women, marking the first time women have ever been allowed to participate through the course. At the culmination of 2 unsuccessful attempts to complete the first phase, all women had failed one requirement or another. Griest, along with Shaye Haver and one soldier still in training, was given the opportunity to start from the beginning, commonly referred to as a "Day 01" recycle. The three of them began training with Ranger Class 08-15. Griest and Haver would go straight through the course without recycling any other phase.

When Griest graduated from Ranger school, the premier leadership course in the US Army, women were not allowed to serve in Ranger/Infantry roles due to the Pentagon's exclusion policies on women in combat. That policy changed on 3 December 2015 when Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced the US military would open combat positions to women with no exception.[8]

In 2016 Griest became the first female infantry officer in the US Army when the Army approved her request to transfer there from a military police unit.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Lamothe, Dan (18 August 2015). "These are the Army's first female Ranger School graduates". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Thompson, Mark (18 August 2015). "Female Army Ranger Grads Are Among Nation's Top Soldiers, But Can't Fight". Time. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Oppel, Richard A. (19 August 2015). "2 Women Set to Graduate From Ranger School Are Experienced Officers". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Colvin, Geoff. "Kristen Griest and Shaye Haver". fortune.com. Fortune Magazine. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Ed Stannard (20 August 2015). "Capt. Kristen Griest of Orange breaks barrier, earns Army Ranger tab". The New Haven Register. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Find a West Point Grad". West Point Association of Graduates. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  7. ↑ Michelle Tan (21 August 2015). "First female Ranger grads share credit with classmate". The Army Times. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "The combat jobs women can now fight for". The Atlantic. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  9. ↑ Trailblazer Becomes Army's First Female Infantry Officer - ABC News


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