Early reports that the Army Ranger School would graduate a third woman has been confirmed by the Army. Maj. Lisa Jaster will join 87 male graduates this Friday and receive her Ranger tab. Although it takes 61 days minimum to complete the entire course, Jaster is emerging victorious after a grueling 180 days of training.
“A lot of doors can open for women if we go about it the right way,” Jaster said in an interview posted to her Facebook account. “The right way includes being professional, thick skinned, and ensuring that we minimize any special treatment. I know that I am physically fit. I am mentally tough. I know that I have all the ingredients to be successful. I volunteered because I want to make sure the standards do remain high and that the women coming out at the far end of Ranger School will be respected for their accomplishments rather than being judged for making things easier.”
Jaster was able to pass the course through ‘recycling,’ a common practice that gives promising Ranger students who fall short in one specific area another chance by allowing them to repeat certain sections of the course. Jaster and the other two female graduates, Capt. Kristen Griest and Lt. Shaye Haver, were recycled once in the first phase of training before moving onto the mountain phase. While Griest and Haver passed the mountain phase on their first try, Jaster was recycled again. In the third and final swamp phase, Jaster was recycled one more time.
What makes Jaster’s accomplishment different from Griest and Haver’s graduation is her age. While her fellow female Ranger grads are young soldiers at the beginning of their careers, Jaster is a 37 year-old high-ranking Army Reserve officer with two children.
Andrew Exum, a former Ranger who now works for the Secretary of Defense, said that completing the rigorous course at her age was a feat in itself. “Forget the fact that she’s a woman,” Exum said. “I can’t believe a 37-year-old graduated from Ranger School. I’m 37. I went when I was 22. 37 is oooooold.”
Jaster joined the Army in 2000 after graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point and served seven years on active duty, during which she was deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. She met her husband Lt. Col. Allan Jaster after she returned stateside and left the military in 2007. As she built an engineering career at Shell and started a family, Jaster maintained her physical form by participating in weight-lifting competitions and CrossFit. She returned to the Army as a reservist in 2014.