Back in 2021 the first female US Army soldier graduated the US Army Sniper School, but she was a member of the Montana Army National Guard, and you can read about that event here. This time the Army announced that in November of 2023 Sgt. Maciel Hay, who is an active duty cavalry scout with the 173rd Airborne Brigade serving in Europe, graduated sniper school and was awarded the B4 identifier.
Women have operated as snipers in numerous conflicts throughout history and have performed exceptionally well and knowing what it takes to pass sniper school, I can declare that Sgt. Hay now has the fundamentals to build her skills and knowledge and continue that tradition should the need ever arise. You can find biographies of famous female snipers on our sniper profiles section. It is interesting that this time around we actually have the name, and even a picture (seen above), of the soldier whom accomplished this feat. This was not the case for the first female grad from Montana.
Sniper School is a very demanding and difficult school and the standards are the same for every student, regardless of gender. For a more detailed look at the school itself, you can read about my own personal experience. The school now is even two weeks longer than it was when I went through back in the late 1990s with some added content for urban and desert operations. We offer our congratulations to Sgt. May and wish her continued success in her already outstanding career.
Mel E. – Editor in Chief, Sniper Central
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