From the beginning, Ashley White set herself apart. When she enrolled in the ROTC program at Kent State University in 2011, she was 18 years old and determined to train with the Ranger Challenge team — which, until that point, had been all male.
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They called her “Little White” — she barely reached 5-foot-3. The team began training by hiking with 20 pounds of gear in their rucksacks, then 30. Her fellow cadets — including her team leader and boyfriend, Jason Stumpf — were shocked she was able to keep pace, never once falling out of formation.
On the rope bridge, White proved herself stronger and faster than any of the men, using her stomach muscles to propel her, upside down, along the knotted rope.
Sgt. 1st Class Stewart McGeahy, the NCO overseeing these cadets and a veteran of Fallujah, Iraq, saw White as a rare breed. “You don’t see that kind of heart very often,” he told Stumpf.
During the final contest, White marched in the middle of her team, all carrying 30 pounds on their backs. They passed their larger and better-funded rival, Ohio State.
Oh, f- -k,” a competing cadet yelled. “Holy s- -t, they got a female. And they are f- -king passing us. Pick it up!”
“I’m trying, dude. I can’t go any faster,” another cadet said. “Man, I’m hurting all over.”
“What the f- -k? Are you kidding me?” the first said. “That girl’s not complaining! Step it up now!”
“That girl” would go on to become part of the first all-female military team to serve with special ops in Afghanistan — all during a time when women were officially banned from ground combat.