Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a review of military standards, including physical fitness, body composition and grooming. It’s a review Hegseth promised during his confirmation hearing when questioned about his statements he’s made that military standards have eroded.
“That will be part of one of the first things we do at the Pentagon — is reviewing that in a gender-neutral way — the standards ensuring readiness and meritocracy is front and center,” Hegseth said in January.
The Pentagon released a memo Wednesday night from Hegseth that directs the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness to review the existing standards set by the military departments.
“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.”
Gerry Broome / AP
The memo directs the review to examine the standards and how they have changed since Jan. 1, 2015. In December 2015, the Defense Department announced it would open up all combat roles to women.
Hegseth has previously opposed that policy decision, saying in a podcast interview shortly before he was tapped as defense secretary, “We should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective. Hasn’t made us more lethal.”
Hegseth walked that view back somewhat during his confirmation hearing, promising that women would have access to combat roles if the standards remain high and “have not been eroded.”
Katherine Kuzminski, the director of studies at the Center for a New American Security, told CBS News in an interview there are separate requirements for men and women, as well as for different ages, to pass the Army Combat Fitness Test that every recruit has to pass. To qualify for special forces, however, the standards are gender-neutral.
“Those standards are uniform across the genders,” Kazminski said, “which is why we have only seen very small numbers of women going into special operations.”
For example, as of early January, according to data provided by the Army, there have been 156 female graduates of the notoriously grueling Ranger Course, with 381 women attending the course since it was first made available to women in 2015, for a graduation rate of approximately 41%.
The Ranger Course requires all candidates to swim 15 meters in full uniform, run five miles in under 40 minutes and march 12 miles with a 35-lb. ruck, according to the Army.
“The standards have not been lowered, and each Ranger Course graduate meets the same training standards,” an Army official told CBS News.
The Pentagon’s review could lead to a change in the Army Combat Fitness test, the generic test, so that the requirements are the same for men and women.
Currently, the Army Combat Fitness test is scored based on different requirements for men and women, depending on age. For instance, a man who’s 17 to 21 years of age must at a minimum be able to run two miles in 22 minutes, while a woman would need to run the same distance in 23:22. The minimum requirement for hand-release push-ups — which involve lifting your hands off the ground at the bottom of the push-up — is the same for men and women of any age: 10.
Facing a recruiting crisis, services in recent years have offered adjustments on drug and tattoo policies and provided enlistment bonuses to attract potential service members, while still maintaining physical and educational standards. The Army also launched pre-enlistment boot camps to help potential candidates get into shape before going into basic training.
Hegseth said during his confirmation hearing that while writing his book “War on Warriors,” he spoke to service members who told him that “in ways direct, indirect, overt and subtle” standards have changed, but Hegseth didn’t provide senators with concrete examples.
Kuzminski also said the defense secretary’s review could include revisiting grooming standards, like the Army allowing women to wear ponytails or the Navy permitting some men to grow facial hair, due to a medical condition exacerbated by shaving.
“They seem like little things, but they were also tied to a broader initiative during the Biden administration to ensure that there weren’t any standards that were disproportionately affecting minorities,” Kuzminski said.
Kuzminski added that changing those back may have some impact on recruiting or retention, but “it’s not something that’s going to break the force because the objective of every person in uniform is professionalism, and they will follow through the standard, whatever the standard is.”