Amended in Assembly September 2, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

House Resolution No. 30

Introduced by Assembly Member Atkins

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Eggman, Cristina Garcia, begin delete and Irwin end delete begin insert Irwin, Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gordon, Grove, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O’Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark  end insert begin insert Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Weber, Wilk, Williams, and Wood end insert )

August 27, 2015

House Resolution No. 30—Relative to the first female graduates of the United States Army Ranger School.

WHEREAS, Women have proudly served in the Armed Forces
of the United States (Armed Forces) throughout our nation’s
history; and

WHEREAS, Over the past century, women have been gradually
authorized to serve in more advanced roles in the Armed Forces,
and, with each milestone, from the 1901 inception of the U.S.
Army Nurse Corps, to the passage of the Women’s Armed Services
Integration Act of 1948, making women a permanent part of the
military, and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Years 1992 and 1993, repealing laws preventing women from
flying combat aircrafts, female soldiers have demonstrated their
bravery, their dedication, and their patriotism; and

WHEREAS, Despite women’s advancement in the military,
women have been banned from front-line combat positions, and
yet, in the past decade of conflict, the distinction between
noncombat and combat roles has blurred, as over 300,000 women
have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, where
152 women in uniform have been killed, including 84 who were
in hostile action, and approximately 1,000 have been wounded;
and

WHEREAS, In recognition of the changing reality of the modern
battle field as well as the exemplary performance of female
soldiers, in 2013, the Pentagon lifted the ban on women in combat
and gave military leaders until the end of 2015 to recommend
which jobs should remain male only; and

WHEREAS, As a result, the Army opened up its elite Ranger
School, the Army’s premier combat leadership course, to female
soldiers for the first time this year as a pilot program; and

WHEREAS, 19 female and 380 male soldiers began the course,
and included within this group were Captain Kristen Griest, a
military police platoon leader who has served one tour of duty in
Afghanistan, and First Lieutenant Shaye Haver, an Apache
helicopter pilot, both graduates of the United States Military
Academy at West Point; and

WHEREAS, The grueling Ranger School identifies and trains
one of our nation’s elite combat forces, focusing on military skills,
endurance, and survival techniques, and exposing candidates to
extreme mental and physical stress; and

WHEREAS, Although, for the first time, both male and female
soldiers were part of the Ranger School class, the same standards
for successful completion of the Ranger School were required of
all soldiers, regardless of gender; and

WHEREAS, Captain Griest and First Lieutenant Haver
successfully completed the Ranger course with 94 other Ranger
candidates; and

WHEREAS, On August 21, 2015, Captain Griest and First
Lieutenant Haver became the first two female soldiers to graduate
from the Ranger School paving the way for future generations of
Army Rangers, and our nation’s other elite combat forces, to finally
be selected from the ranks of all top soldiers, regardless of gender;
and

WHEREAS, Despite this barrier-breaking accomplishment of
Captain Griest and First Lieutenant Haver, these trailblazers,
because they are female, are not yet permitted to join Army Ranger
battalions, or to serve in the infantry or any other special operations
post, yet both have expressed their desire that the Army end this
policy; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
Assembly urges the Pentagon to allow Captain Griest, First
Lieutenant Haver, and any other qualified female soldier to serve
in the Army Rangers and other combat units of the armed services;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Assembly recognizes and honors the
patriotism, dedication, and perseverance of Captain Griest and
First Lieutenant Haver and the historic importance of their
achievement to the advancement of women in the Armed Forces;

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.