Her journey to Ranger School began in August 2014, when the pilot program allowing women to join Ranger School was launched. She was fascinated by the new opportunity, but initially wasn’t sure if she was the right fit for the program.
“At the time I thought, ‘that’s really cool, but that’s way above my level,’” she recalled.
Still – always willing to take on a new challenge – 1LT Lilly joined the Ranger PT program and soon found that, contrary to her original thought, it was not at all above her level.
“I got in their PT program and the instructors said, ‘you know, you could probably do this,’” said 1LT Lilly. “They wanted me to go [to Ranger School] at that time, but due to funding requirements through the State, there was no way for me to go during the test program.”
Missing out on the pilot program did not stop 1LT Lilly from continuing to physically and mentally prepare herself for possibly attending Ranger School in the future. She followed the Ranger School trail program closely and sought out as much information as possible. Wanting to ensure she would meet the minimum physical standards for the Ranger course, over a span of three years, 1LT Lilly completely changed her training regimen. 1LT Lilly trained six days a week for a total of 20 hours each week to prepare herself for Ranger School. Three days a week included an hour and a half of upper body-focused strength training, followed by a 5–8 mile run. Two days out of the week she would ruck for about 6 miles carrying 45–60 pounds. On the last training day of the week she would complete a longer ruck of 10–12 miles and would focus on changing elevations. 1LT Lilly also took time to go to the Arms Room in the Glen Jean Armory to practice the proper assembling and disassembling of weapons and radios – repeatedly watching tutorial videos to ensure she got it right. On the tactical level, she tirelessly studied the Ranger School 20 Boards, which spell out what is expected of a Ranger patrol.
She kept a close eye on the progress of those in the program and found herself excited for the women who made it through.
“When two women finally made it through, they were in their mid-20s and I thought, ‘that’s awesome that these younger women are doing this,’ but I didn’t know if physically I could do it,” 1LT Lilly commented.
