Here comes G.I. Jane: Army accepts first women to attend school to become Green Berets

By Alex Quade
July 22, 2016

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. | Two female Army officers will make history when they report to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in their first step toward earning the Special Forces tab and becoming Green Berets.

The female officers, whom Army officials declined to identify, could attend their first Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) class as early as October, though neither has yet received orders for training at Fort Bragg, The Washington Times has learned.

Col. Nestor A. Sadler, commandant of the Special Forces Regiment at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center School at Fort Bragg, confirmed that the two female candidates had accepted invitations for the SFAS class.

“Two females met the requirements for SFAS and were nominated by the ARSOF [Army Special Operations Forces selection] panel to attend SFAS. One candidate declined her invitation and withdrew from the process. Special ForcesBranch asked why. On the last day to accept or decline the invitation, she changed her mind and accepted the invitation to attend SFAS,” Col. Sadler said.

At a recent Special Forces Association conference in Jacksonville, Col. Sadler said that the Army selection panel had reviewed the application packets of seven female officers. Of those, two were approved for the SFAS class, he said.

Officers may apply for special forces positions once a year. The Army selection panel in April reviewed application packets from 860 officers for the three Special Operations Regiments, which include Special Forces, Civil Affairs and PSYOP.

Maj. Melody Faulkenberry, spokeswoman for the Special Warfare Center and School, said that 71 women applied for the various Special Operations Regiments forces positions and 65 were selected for consideration.

“This was the first time females had the ability to choose Special Forces, and nine female officers marked Special Forces as their first choice in their packets,” Maj. Faulkenberry said.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter opened all combat occupations to women in December, ending a ban on women in direct ground combat roles.

The female officers must pass the SFAS and the subsequent Special Forces Qualification Course before earning the coveted green beret.

Both female officers are on active duty and have served in combat support roles. Neither attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. One received her commission via ROTC, the other via Officer Candidate School.

Citing the Privacy Act, Army officials declined Freedom of Information Act requests for the officers’ service background information such as their military occupation specialties, awards and deployment history.

“An important thing to remember is, these are volunteers. Special Forces is something soldiers volunteer for,” Maj. Faulkenberry said.

The two female officers are “triple volunteers,” having volunteered for the Army, airborne training and now Special Forces, she said.