Shaye Lynne Haver
Quick Facts
Biography
Captain Shaye Lynne Haver is one of the two first women, along with LieutenantKristen Griest, to ever graduate from the US Army Ranger School, which occurred on 21 August 2015. Haver and Griest were ranked 34th on Fortune magazine's 2016 list of the World's Greatest Leaders.
Early life and education
Haver is from Copperas Cove, Texas. In 2008, she graduated from high school in Texas, where she was a cross country runner and soccer player.
Haver graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2012.
Haver followed in her father's footsteps and became a pilot of attack helicopters. Her father also served as a career Army aviator who flew Apaches.
Military career
Having previously served as an Apache attack helicopter pilot in an aviation brigade, Haver is one of the two first women (along with Kristen Marie Griest) to have earned a Ranger tab from the US Army Ranger School. Haver was among a group of 19 women who qualified to attend the first gender-integrated Ranger School, which began 20 April 2015. She received a certificate of completion and was awarded and authorized to wear the Ranger Tab on 21 August 2015.
Haver and Griest both said that they felt extra pressure to succeed because they wanted to prove that women can endure the same stress and pressure that men do when training. Since questions arose about the legitimacy of the program, many commanders and generals have spoken out in support of the women. Major General Scott Miller, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, said he vowed before the program began that there "would be no change to the standards". Some critics argued that because Haver and her classmate Griest recycled, or started over, they were given special treatment or somehow didn't meet the same standards as male Rangers. School officials reassured the public that approximately 1 in 4 males graduate Ranger academy without a recycle.
On 26 April 2018 Haver took command of Co C, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry of the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, joining her fellow Ranger Griest in being some of the first female infantry commanders. Following in her footsteps, as of April 2019, there were 12 female Rangers and approximately 600 women serving in infantry and armor jobs.