Lisa Jaster

Jaster was commissioned as a U.S. Army Engineer Officer in 2000 upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.[5] She was initially assigned to Fort Stewart in eastern Georgia with the 92nd Engineer Battalion, and deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in her first four years (Operation Enduring Freedom I and Operation Iraqi Freedom I).[2] Jaster was then reassigned to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for school, where she met her husband, Marine Lt. Col. Allan Jaster. She left active-duty in 2007 and started a family and civilian career with Shell, but returned to the Army as a reservist in 2014. Jaster holds a BS and MS in Civil Engineering.

Maj. Lisa Jaster, an Army Reserve soldier, performs a fireman's carry on a simulated casualty during the Ranger Course at Ft. Benning, GA. The 37-year-old engineer and mother of two children, aged 7 and 3, is the first female Army Reserve officer to graduate Ranger School.

One of the first three women to graduate the United States Army Ranger School,[2] Jaster was the first female United States Army Reserve officer to earn the Ranger Tab.[2] She completed the training, which as many as 60 percent[3] of students fail within the first four days, after repeatedly "recycling" through, or retrying, several phases of the multi-locational course. There were 400 participants, 19 of whom were women, who initially began the training. Jaster endured the training, which takes a minimum of 61 days[4] and includes up to 20 hours of training per day alongside a strict diet, for a grueling six months.[5] She graduated at age 37, while the average trainee age is 23.[6] Captain Kristen Griest and Captain Shaye Lynne Haver are the two other women aside from Jaster who have earned the Ranger tab. They recycled together for the first round, but went on while she had to recycle for the second round. Jaster joined 87 other students in receiving the tab in a ceremony at Fort Benning.

In 2018, Jaster, along with Kristen Griest and Shaye Haver were inducted into the US Army Women's Foundation Hall of Fame.[13]

After moving from Fort Stewart to Fort Leonard Wood, Jaster met her husband, Marine Lt. Col. Allan Jaster, veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, and officer in the Marine Corps Reserve. They have two children together, Zachary and Victoria, and live in Texas. Jaster credits the support of her family as being the reason why she was able to complete her training at Ranger School.[14]

In her spare time, Jaster primarily reads, works out, spends time with the family, and trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[5]