The US Army Rangers are about to have their first female members. What do vets think?

On Friday, the US Army's Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia, will graduate its newest class.

Among the 96 graduates are two women: Kristen Griest and Shaye Haver.

They are the first women to complete Ranger School, which has been described as the toughest, most mentally demanding course in the Army. Rangers were the guys who scaled the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc on D-Day.

But earning the coveted black-and-gold Ranger tab still doesn't mean Griest and Haver have a place in the Army's elite Ranger regiment. Like most combat roles, these posts are still closed to women — although that's currently under review.

We polled some of our online community of veterans to see whether they thought these women should be allowed to join the Rangers and got more than 300 responses.

Several pointed out that most of Ranger School grads don't join the Rangers anyway: It's more of a leadership school than anything else.

But after that, most responses went something like this: "Hell yeah!" says Paula Schmidt from Flint, Michigan, who served 14 years in the Army. “I absolutely think that yes, hell yes, they should be allowed to enter combat if they so choose. If they went through the training and made it, then that's what they deserve.”

Now, obviously this is an unscientific poll, but our veterans, by about a 4-to-1 margin, told us that these newly minted female rangers should be allowed to fight as Rangers. There was one persistent qualifier, though: So long as standards do not change.

A lot of the no's came with concerns about strength, and the need to be able to carry a wounded comrade off the battlefield.

Steve Johnson was the only one to raise a different objection, one which has been much discussed elsewhere. Johnson, from Nashville, served 16 years in the army, indcluding two tours as a combat medic in Iraq.

"I'm sure they're every bit as competent and capable as most of the males. But there are problems that I’ve always noticed when male and female soldiers serve side-by-side. Relationships form. There’s jealousy, and favoritism as well. These issues can be serious enough in an office or garrison setting. They cause resentment and distrust among the males. But in a combat arena these issues can be devastating or even life-threatening."

Some vets reminded us that women have been distinguished in combat throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as "there are no front-lines any more."

David Bigelow from Brighton, Colorado, earned the Ranger tab himself, and agreed women should serve as Rangers but noted “the culture is still changing, so it won’t be too quick. Intersting that the US Army is once again leading the way with American integration.”

If you'd like to join our online veterans community text RETURN to 698-66.