Maneuver Center of Excellence leaders, family and friends of Ranger Class 08-19 attend the Rangers in Action demonstration and graduation August 30, 2019 at Victory Pond on post. Army photo by Patrick Albright.
An Air Force officer became the first female airman to earn the Army’s Ranger tab last week.
First Lt. Chelsey Hibsch is the first USAF woman to graduate from the course since it opened to airmen in 1955, according to an Aug. 30 Air Force release. Almost 300 airmen total have earned the Ranger tab.
Hibsch is a former security forces member who will become a flight commander in the 821st Contingency Response Support Squadron at Travis AFB, Calif., the release said. She previously served as an enlisted airman.
The famed Ranger school at Fort Benning, Ga., focuses on combat leadership and small-unit tactics, with long, grueling training in all climates and terrains. Only about half of those who enter the Ranger school graduate, according to the release.
The training provides an “understanding of how you function when you’re hungry, tired, wet, cold, and worse, then you have to lead a team of individuals feeling the exact same way,” Hibsch said in the release. “You really find out a lot about your teammates and yourself in these stressful situations.”