An extremely hard course. Unfortunately there are questions about relaxing standards. Again.

One question relates to her first try at the course. She quit during land nav. In these elite courses students are not allowed to recycle or try again if they actually quit an event.

Air Force’s first female special tactics officer earns coveted scarlet beret

An Air Force captain on Thursday became the service’s first female special tactics officer, donning the elite red beret after completing a grueling three-month training course.


Her journey to become a commando has sparked controversy over the past six months about how the Air Force enforces its most stringent training standards and whether she has enjoyed unfair flexibility while going through the pipeline.


The complaints began in January with an anonymous letter from a member of the special tactics community that was posted on social media, garnering widespread attention among defense watchers and in Congress. An Air Force inspector general investigation, published June 7, disputed those claims.


Air Force Times is not publishing the woman’s name in order to protect her privacy. The service is also keeping mum despite the historic nature of her accomplishment.


The beret ceremony marked the end of the woman’s second attempt at finishing the special tactics officer apprentice course (also known as Combat Control School) — a program that covers skills like land navigation, parachuting and assault zone reconnaissance — held at Pope Army Airfield, North Carolina.


The woman quit during a solo land navigation course on her first time through the course in 2021, but was allowed to try again this year. Air Force Times previously reported that screenshots of trainee records indicated the woman was struggling in some activities after she returned to Pope on March 31.