All 8 Women in Army Rangers' First Co-ed Class Fail Phase One

All eight female soldiers in the first co-ed class of Army Ranger School flunked the first phase of the tough infantry course.

The women, along with 101 male candidates who didn't make the grade, will be able to repeat the course, called the Darby phase, Military.com reports.

About 35 male students washed out of Ranger School altogether and will return to their regular units, the website reports.

"I had the opportunity to visit the Ranger students yesterday, and was impressed that whether going forward to the mountains or recycling the Darby phase, they were motivated to continue training and focused on successfully completing the Ranger course," Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, said in a news release, the military new site reports.

"Ranger School is the Army's toughest course, and this iteration is no exception," Fort Benning officials added in the release.

Army leaders decided to allow women into the historically male-only infantry course as part of former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's January 2013 directive that all services open combat roles to women, the website notes.

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