Pete Hegseth reviews military fitness standards for equal combat roles

In March 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a comprehensive review of military standards regarding combat, physical fitness, and appearance in the United States. This action aims to establish uniformity across all branches of the military, ensuring that combat roles maintain the highest standards without regard to gender. Previously, the military operated under a dual system where physical fitness requirements varied by gender and age, with specific roles demanding stricter standards. These changes come in the wake of the Pentagon's 2015 decision to allow women in all combat roles, pushing for equality in military performance expectations. Hegseth’s memo emphasized the importance of vigilance in maintaining rigorous standards to ensure that all military personnel can effectively protect American interests. He directed the undersecretary for personnel to gather data on existing standards relating to physical fitness, grooming, and body composition. This aim is to illuminate how military requirements have evolved since the integration of women into combat positions and ensure that adjustments are not made at the expense of operational effectiveness. With this shift comes an urgency to revise the existing assessments used for determining physical fitness in the military. The traditional fitness tests have long been a patchwork of different requirements across branches, but the new initiative aims to establish more coherent and challenge-driven metrics. Hegseth's statements have indicated that the military must adapt to contemporary demands while maintaining its status as the world’s most capable fighting force. Critics of previous standards argued that they were insufficiently rigorous, especially for combat roles. As part of this initiative, Hegseth has called for a review of various military practices that have adjusted in response to evolving societal norms and recruitment trends. The modifications made over the years have included shifts in grooming policies, acceptance of low ASVAB test scores for enlistment, and relaxation of regulations surrounding specific Grooming standards concerning gender. The defense secretary's focus on equal standards is seen as a necessary step to ensure that both men and women in military roles can achieve parity in combat preparedness and effectiveness. Hegseth's review underscores the military's commitment to retaining robust standards required to meet national security challenges while embracing a more equitable environment for all service members.