U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on March 12 ordered a review of the U.S. military’s fitness standards and grooming requirements.
The undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness must review how the standards have changed since Jan. 1, 2015, according to Hegseth, and provide insight into why the standards changed and what effect they have had.
“We must remain vigilant in maintaining the standards that enable the men and women of our military to protect the American people and our homeland as the world’s most lethal and effective fighting force,” Hegseth said.
“Our adversaries are not growing weaker, and our tasks are not growing less challenging. This review will illuminate how the Department has maintained the level of standards required over the recent past and the trajectory of any change in those standards.”
The military said the review would be undertaken rapidly but did not provide a timeline for the project.
Hegseth has previously criticized changes to standards, including allowing women to serve in ground combat roles.
The military started letting women serve in these roles in 2013, with full integration achieved several years later.
“Since women cannot physically meet the same standards as men, the military has two options—both bad,” Hegseth wrote in his book “The War on Warriors,” published in 2024 when he was still a Fox News host.
“They can lower the standards for everyone to ensure more women meet with infantry or combat standards. Or they can return to gender-based standards, and allow women to enter the infantry with lower standards than men. They have tried both.”
He pointed to the U.S. Army’s Airborne School, which he said removed its daily five-mile run as part of integrating females who serve in infantry units. That informal standard had served to “weed out weaker candidates,” Hegseth wrote.
Answering Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who offered criticism of Hegseth’s past remarks during his confirmation hearing, Hegseth said that “it’s not about the capabilities of men and women, it’s about standards,” and that the standards have eroded over time, affecting military readiness.
“Whether it’s a man or a woman, they have to meet the same high standards,” he added later. This includes being able to carry certain heavy firearms.
Hegseth also said that “writing a book is different than being secretary of defense.”
“We are American warriors. We will defend our country. Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear,” he said at the time. “The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose.”
