Despite scandalous news leaks concerning inappropriate relationships between female and male enlisted Infantry personnel in the 82nd Airborne Division, one female company commander stands as a reminder to not paint all of the Infantry’s women with a broad stroke of judgment.
Though allegations of scandalous conduct have risen out of the 505th concerning the female 11 Bravos intermingling with their male counterparts (to include an acting First Sergeant and a Private), 1/508’s Company “C” Commander, Captain Shaye Haver, continues to push the boundaries of professionalism and toughness.
One of the first women to finish the US Army’s Ranger School, a West Point Graduate and a former AH-64D Longbow pilot, Haver is no stranger to knowing how to work with -and lead- an Infantry company.
The daughter of an Apache pilot and a native Texan, Haver continually displays a level of toughness that is to be expected from the Airborne Corps, which is known for being unforgiving to those who lack professionalism and hardiness.
Haver is no stranger to the realities of biology- in order to succeed at every challenge placed before her, she had to train where women are structurally weaker than men, placing emphasis on grip and upper-body strength.
Earning her Ranger tab in 2015, Haver voluntarily took command of 1/508 PIR’s Charlie Company (part of the 82nd’s third brigade) in April of 2018, making her one of the first female US Army Airborne Infantry officer.
In June, Haver and her company dropped into Latvia for Swift Response 18, a combat exercise in the Baltics. Charlie Company has participated in several exercises since then, including squad-level maneuvers back at Fort Bragg earlier this month.
For Haver, becoming an Infantry officer was something she really wanted to do after ten months of carefully considering it after graduating from Ranger school. In a March interview at the Modern War Institute at West Point, she expressed that she was “ecstatic” to take command of “140 steely-eyed killers.”
Today, it seems, she has done just that- a peak example for other female Soldiers to follow. Haver’s confidence clearly shows she is Infantry, and no “bad eggs” that happen to tarnish the 82nd’s female-integrated infantry units’ reputations can come close to tarnishing her own legend in the making.
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