Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the military services to require everyone who serves in a combat specialty to meet the same physical fitness standard. Hegseth announced the policy was on the way by a video posted on X as he returned to the US from Japan.
Hi, everybody. Pete Hegseth here, and we’re about to land in Washington, DC, on our way back from Japan, where we’ve been meeting with the troops, talking to allies and partners, and reestablishing deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. This Sunday, of course, we’re still working, I want to show you one thing. It’s a new memorandum that’s coming out today on Combat Arms standards.
You see, for far too long, we have allowed standards to slip. We’ve had different standards for men and women in combat arms MOSs and jobs. That’s not acceptable. 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 or in those formations have the best possible leaders and the highest possible standards that are not based at all on your sex, if you’re a man or a woman.
I’m signing this memorandum today. The services will review and see that we have nothing but the highest and equal standards for men and women in combat.