After starting over from scratch, three women made Army history by becoming the first female soldiers to pass the Darby Phase of U.S. Army Ranger School.

They will join 158 men and advance to the Georgia phase, during which they will spend eight days learning military mountaineering techniques and ten days leading patrols. If students perform well, they will move on to the Florida phase.

The road has been tough for these three soldiers. They are the last of 19 female soldiers to enter the elite Ranger School, which welcomed female students for the first time this year. All but eight were eliminated during the notorious RAP week, and all women failed the Darby Phase. However, three high-performing soldiers were given a chance to start the training over from the beginning on June 21.

Having endured RAP week and the Darby phase twice, the female students have outlasted hundreds of their male counterparts. During their first session, only 184 of 390 male soldiers made it passed RAP week. Sixty percent of students drop the course within the first four days of training. Conquering those beginning phases twice over is certainly an accomplishment, though it doesn’t ascertain that the students will pass the entire course.