For the first time, a female Army Ranger participated in the annual Best Ranger Competition, and her two-person team finished 14th overall in the challenging three-day event held over the weekend. First Lt. Gabrielle White and her teammate, Capt. Seth Deltenre, were among the 16 teams that reached the final stage of the competition, where Ranger teams compete to earn recognition as the best in this elite military force. A total of 52 teams competed, all consisting of male soldiers except for White and Deltenre.
The team that won the competition included 1st Lt. Griff Hokanson and 1st Lt. Kevin Moore, both from the 75th Ranger Regiment. White and Deltenre are currently based at the Army Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Female soldiers were not allowed to become Army Rangers until 2015, when the Army began admitting women to Ranger school. In August 2015, two female soldiers became the first women to complete the Ranger course. Later that year, the Defense Department opened all combat roles to women.
Before this year, no female soldiers had participated in the Best Ranger Competition at Fort Benning. To compete in this event, soldiers must be Army Rangers and participate in over 30 strenuous challenges. Participants are required to cover more than 60 miles over the course of three days with minimal rest, and the event includes helicopter missions, physical fitness tests, land navigation, weapons qualification, obstacle courses, and other tests.
In previous years, the Army might have highlighted such historic milestones in press releases, but this time, no such acknowledgment was made. Under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the department banned content that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion. As part of a recent purge of the military’s online platforms, mentions of historic firsts by women and minorities have been largely removed.
White, a 25-year-old Black infantry officer, is currently assigned to the maneuver captains career course. She graduated from West Point in May 2021 and completed Ranger School in April 2022, according to Army spokesperson Christopher Surridge. By January 2025, a total of 154 women had graduated from Ranger School.
