Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsth issued a memo on Monday calling for equal physical requirements for men and women in combat roles; “We’re allowed standards to slip,” Hegseth said in a video announcing the memo on X.
“Different standards for men and women in combat arms, MOS and jobs, that’s not acceptable,” Hegseth said, 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.”
Watch the video below:
For far too long, we have allowed standards to slip. We’ve had different standards for men/women serving in combat arms MOS’s and jobs….
That’s not acceptable, and it changes right now! pic.twitter.com/Zn9OyBew6G
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) March 31, 2025
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.
[h/t New York Post]
Thank you for visiting