West Point graduate becomes the first woman to compete in the grueling Army Ranger contest

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON (AP) — A female Army Ranger for the first time competed in the annual Best Ranger Competition, and her two-soldier team finished the grueling three-day event over the weekend and came in 14th overall.

First Lt. Gabrielle White, and her teammate, Capt. Seth Deltenre, were among the 16 teams that made it through the final events, where Ranger teams compete for accolades as the best of the elite military force. All together, 52 teams competed and all of the others were made up of only male soldiers.

The two Rangers on the winning team were 1st Lt. Griff Hokanson and 1st Lt. Kevin Moore — both are members of the 75th Ranger Regiment. White and Deltenre are based at the Army Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Female soldiers were not allowed to be Army Rangers until 2015, when the Army opened Ranger school to women. In August 2015, two female soldiers completed the Ranger course for the first time. Later that year, the Defense Department opened all combat jobs to women.

Until this year, no female soldiers had entered the Best Ranger Competition at Fort Benning. Soldiers participating must all be Army Rangers, and they compete in more than 30 events.

According to the competition, soldiers must move more than 60 miles during the three days, with little rest. It includes helicopter missions, physical fitness tests, land navigation, weapons qualification, obstacle course and other tests.

While in previous years the Army would likely have noted the historic first in a story or press release, that won’t happen this time.

Under President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the department has banned anything that touts diversity, equity and inclusion. And in the recent purge of the military’s online websites and social media postings, mentions of historic firsts by women and minorities were largely eliminated.

White, 25, is a Black infantry officer assigned to the maneuver captains career course. She graduated from the Military Academy at West Point in May 2021 and completed the Ranger School in April 2022, according to Christopher Surridge, an Army spokesman.

According to the Army, 154 females had graduated from the Ranger School as of January 2025.