Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered a review of combat fitness standards to ensure gender neutrality on Sunday, even though fitness tests for combat roles are already gender neutral.

Hegseth has previously expressed skepticism about women in combat roles, and he committed to ensuring the entire force was meeting high standards in his confirmation hearing. There are about 225,000 women in the active-duty force, representing about 18% of the troops. The Army, the largest branch, has some of the highest numbers of women in combat roles with nearly 4,800 in infantry, armor and artillery jobs, according to the Associated Press.

In a post on X announcing the change, he said that for far too long standards have been allowed to slip and men and women in combat roles have been different.

“Soon we will have nothing but the highest and equal standards for men and women in combat,” he said in the video post.

In his order, Hegseth called out expectations for ground combat roles, special forces and specialized occupations.

“Standards for ground combat occupations should emphasize the ability to carry heavy loads, endure prolonged physical exertion, and perform effectively in austere, hostile environments,” the order said.

The order called for special forces troops to pass tests ensuring they can participate in extreme environments and activities such as swimming, climbing and parachuting. Those in specialized work should demonstrate sustained endurance and expertise in demanding tasks, the order said.

The plans to implement the order are due in 60 days and must be implemented within six months, the document said. Any proposed changes may not lower standards, it said.

Pete Hegseth Tweet

The order follows a similar directive issued March 12 to review physical fitness, body composition, and grooming. The order called for a focus on how those standards have changed since 2015.

During a January panel hosted by the Brookings Institution, including a retired male lieutenant colonel who served in the Army and three retired senior female military leaders from the Air Force and Marine Corps, members described how they saw women contribute to the force.

The panel agreed that physical standards have not been lowered for women.

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Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Lori Reynolds said that, from about 2012 to 2014, the service branch went through an intensive process to review physical requirements to establish entry level standards for individual jobs.

For example, those who want to be an artillery officer need to be able lift and load 40-pound rounds. Those tasks factored into the tests that had to be passed for individual jobs.

“The Marine Corps is now better for it because we now have taken a, you know, a very concentrated and intentional view of what the job requires,” she said, in a transcript of the panel.

She also pointed out that during the war in Afghanistan, women were allowed to speak to Afghan women, while men in uniform were not because of the nation’s culture.

“When you consider and involve women in peacemaking and peacekeeping and stability operations, you get a better outcome,” she said.

Retired Lt. Col. Jason Gallardo said, also, that at no time were physical standards lowered and, if anything, women in certain areas increased competition in general, particularly since about 95% of work in the military relies on using your head.

The military does maintain different physical standards for its annual fitness tests among men and women across the different services and among different age groups. The Space Force is experimenting with eliminating annual fitness tests and instead continuously tracking guardians’ workouts, the Gazette reported previously.

Contact the writer at mary.shinn@gazette.com or (719) 429-9264.