Overview
- Undersecretary Anthony Tata directed the Army and Marine Corps to provide detailed data on readiness, training, performance, casualties, command climate, and any internal studies, with points of contact due to the Institute for Defense Analyses by Jan. 15.
- The six-month assessment, conducted by the Institute for Defense Analyses, will examine how women have performed in infantry, armor and artillery nearly a decade after combat restrictions were lifted.
- Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said the goal is to ensure combat-arms standards remain elite, uniform and sex neutral, framing the study as a check on maintaining a lethal force.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously opposed women in ground combat and in September ordered a return to the “highest male standard,” noting that if no women qualify for some jobs, that could be the result.
- Critics, including retired Army officials and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, contend the review is a pretext to reduce women’s participation, even as roughly 3,800 women serve in Army infantry, armor and artillery and about 700 serve in Marine ground-combat roles.