EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla, -- For 167 Ranger School students, Tuesday was just another day of challenges. This time, the obstacle was Yellow River, an 118-mile stream that starts in south Alabama and snakes its way toward Pensacola Bay. As part of the swamp phase, the final test in the most difficult training the U.S. Army offers, the students practiced crossing the muddy water on a one-rope bridge they tied to pine trees on either side. They got wet doing it.
They also paddled downstream in a Zodiac, a heavy-duty raft, hitting a landing point a few miles away. Though they are at Camp Rudder, an Eglin outpost, they are looking to Aug. 21 when those who survive will graduate Ranger School at Victory Pond on Fort Benning. Two of the 167 are looking to make history and become the first women to earn the Ranger tab. The women, both West Point graduates the Army has not yet identified, were indistinguishable from their classmates during Tuesday's river training. Full Story»