Amanda Kelley didn’t set out to become the first female enlisted soldier to pass the incredibly rigorous U.S. Army #Ranger course. For Staff Sgt. Kelley, a native of #easleysc that was just another step along the path toward her bigger goal — to become #sergeantmajorofthearmy Not a sergeant major in the Army. The sergeant major of the Army. And purely by the coincidence of her gender, if it happens, she would be the first female to attain that office, the highest position enlisted personnel can hold. But let's back up a little bit. Ranger School. Fort Benning, Georgia. A 62-day gauntlet-run that two out of three who try fail. Actually, she’s not the first female to have completed the program but the first enlisted woman. She was the 16th, but all the others were officers. Kelley seems to take pride in her status as an enlisted soldier rather than an officer — as evidenced by her goal of being the top enlisted officer in the whole Army. “I wanted to get out of Easley. It’s so small. I wanted to be somebody,” she said. “I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself.” After graduating from Easley High School in 2007, Kelley, now 29, wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life. She eventually went to a private tech school in #greenvillesc , where she learned some of what helped her in her current job as an #electronicwarfarespecialist . #contactmenow (at Collinwood High School) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca16GGNO6Vu/?utm_medium=tumblr











