Soldier speaks to media after graduating infantry training, says shes was "singled out"

It has been seven months since the first female soldiers attended the previously all male Army infantry school at Fort Benning, GA. While the subject of females in combat has been a hot topic for the media since Ashton Carter’s historic decision, this story differs from what most would expect.

Many stories have focused on the fears of female soldiers being subjected to harassment or special treatment while in their new gender integrated training environments, the experience for this soldier was the opposite.

Tennessee native Adriana Knisely was one of only 12 females to recently graduate from infantry training. Because she was once of twelve, the local news reporter in Knoxville hoped to create the narrative she that she was singled out by males because she is a female.

“Being different, Adriana hoped she wouldn’t be singled out, but she was wrong,” she reported. But Knisely’s response was not that she was singled out by male soldiers; she was singled out by a female drill sergeant.

“Most of the time you try to hide in the back so they don’t see you,” Knisely said. “No, I was seen the first day. She was hard on me. Extra expectations for all of the females.”

The reporter also failed to realize that in the Army, “singled out” means that a person has been selected for special attention to ensure they are going to meet the standard. If Knisely did not receive the extra attention, she likely could have gave up on herself. The “extra attention” also ensured other soldiers saw she was putting in the work and not “hiding in the back.” The ridicule from peers while in training can be far worse than any special attention from an instructor.

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