Integrating Women into U.S. Army Special Forces: Every Day is a ‘Selection Event’

Then-Army 1st Lt. Kirsten Griest (C) and fellow soldiers participate in combatives training during the Ranger Course on Fort Benning, Ga., in April 2016.

Then-Army 1st Lt. Kirsten Griest (C) and fellow soldiers participate in combatives training during the Ranger Course on Fort Benning, Ga., in April 2016.

By Alex Quade

“I’ve worked with lots of great women at the CIA. They bring super value to the table. It’s going to happen in SF (Special Forces). Get used to it,” retired Special Forces Sergeant Major Billy Waugh, a former CIA Paramilitary Officer, stated.

Waugh, the author of “Hunting The Jackal,” spoke to a room full of skeptical Special Forces brothers at the recent Special Forces Association conference in Jacksonville.

That’s where Col. Nestor A. Sadler, Commandant of the Special Forces Regiment at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center School (USAJFKSWCS) confirmed, two female Army officers have been invited to report to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in their first step towards earning the Special Forces tab and becoming a Green Beret.

Col. Sadler said the two female candidates accepted their invitations for Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) class. The earliest class they could attend would be this October, though neither have received orders directing travel to Fort Bragg for training yet.

To read the complete article, visit Small Wars Journal.