Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo Monday ordering men and women to meet the same physical fitness requirements if they want to serve in combat roles, saying the Pentagon had “allowed standards to slip.”
“Different standards for men and women in combat arms, MOS and jobs, that’s not acceptable,” Hegseth said in a video posted to X, using the abbreviation for “military occupational specialty,” or job type.
“We have to have the same standard — male or female — in our combat roles to ensure our men and women who are under our leaders, or in those formations, have the best possible leaders and the highest possible standards that are not based at all on your sex.”
The memo, which orders the military branches to “develop comprehensive plans to distinguish combat arms occupations from non-combat arms occupations,” specifies in hand-underlined text that the soon-to-be developed standards must not “result in any existing service member being held to a lower standard.”
“All entry-level and sustained physical fitness requirements within combat arms positions must be sex-neutral, based solely on the operational demands of the occupation and the readiness needed to confront any adversary,” Hegseth wrote.
“The effort will ensure combat standards are clear, mission-focused and reflective of the unique physical demands placed on our service members in various roles,” his memo added.
The memo also laid out what kinds of standards all troops in ground combat, special operations or “specialized” roles such as explosive ordnance disposal technician must fit.
For example, Hegseth’s guidance says troops on the frontlines should be able to “carry heavy loads, endure prolonged physical exertion and perform effectively in austere, hostile environments.”
“Service members in these roles must exhibit speed, strength, agility and endurance to navigate the demands of combat situations,” the document reads.
Service secretaries now have 60 days to submit their proposed combat-role standards to Hegseth, and military branches will then be required to implement the changes within six months.
“Soon we will have nothing but the highest standards for men and women in combat,” the secretary said.
Hegseth has repeatedly commented on the issue of women in combat before he was nominated to lead the Pentagon. On Nov. 7, the ex-Fox News personality told podcaster Shawn Ryan he “straight up” believed “we should not have women in combat roles.”
“It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, [and] has made fighting more complicated,” he said at the time.
However, Hegseth later softened his opinion to say that both men and women could serve in combat roles so long as they met the same physical standards.
