Sparking intense debates, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently mandated a groundbreaking policy to eliminate gender discrepancies in military physical fitness standards.
See the tweet below.
The memo, which targets previous DEI-influenced policies, mandates that combat fitness standards be based on operational demands rather than lowered to accommodate women.
This move signals a return to merit-based military readiness over “woke” social engineering that critics say has compromised America’s fighting force.
Hegseth signed the memorandum, directly addressing what many military experts have long identified as a dangerous lowering of standards. He emphasized:
“We need to have the same standards – male or female – in our combat roles to ensure our men and women who are under our leaders and in those formations have the best possible leaders and the highest possible standards that are not based at all on your sex.”
The directive gives military branches 60 days to submit reports on combat roles and develop plans to distinguish combat arms occupations from non-combat positions, ensuring that physical requirements accurately reflect battlefield demands.
“For far too long, we allowed standards to slip, and different standards for men and women in combat arms MOS’s and jobs. That’s not acceptable,” Hegseth stated.
The secretary’s action comes in direct response to concerns about declining military readiness since 2016, when the Obama administration opened combat roles to women without ensuring equal physical standards.
Conservative military advocates have long warned that applying different standards based on gender creates dangerous vulnerabilities on the battlefield where enemies do not discriminate based on sex.
Approximately 4,800 women currently serve in Army infantry, armor, and artillery roles under what critics claim are lower physical fitness requirements than their male counterparts.
The new policy aims to ensure all combat personnel—regardless of gender—can perform the physically demanding tasks required in warfare.
Hegseth’s directive also includes removing some historical accounts of women’s contributions to the military that were part of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
This aligns with the administration’s broader efforts to eliminate DEI programs, which critics argue prioritize identity politics over military effectiveness.
Moreover, the policy presents special challenges for services like the Navy, Air Force, and Space Force, where combat roles are less clearly defined than in the Army and Marine Corps.
For the Navy particularly, all crew members contribute to combat performance, making distinctions between combat and non-combat personnel more complex.
“Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear,” Hegseth promised.
Notably, some female military leaders have even criticized the lower standards. Command Sargeant Major JoAnn Naumann previously stated, “Quite frankly, as a 50-year-old woman, I’m insulted that they think I need [12] minutes to run a mile.”
Military analysts pointed out that this policy reverses years of politically motivated standards dilution and returns focus to the military’s core purpose: winning wars.
By ensuring that all combat personnel meet the exact rigorous physical requirements, America’s armed forces will be better prepared to face increasingly sophisticated adversaries in an increasingly dangerous world.
Different physical standards for men and women in the U.S. military have existed for a long time. BUT, there were also combat roles that were male-only.
Then, under Obama, all combat roles were opened to men AND women. BUT, different physical fitness standards for men and women…
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) March 31, 2025
