Overview

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the military to implement equal and high fitness standards for men and women in combat roles, formalized in a memorandum signed on March 31, 2025.
• The ongoing review will assess changes to military standards since 2015, when all combat roles were opened to women, focusing on physical fitness, body composition, and grooming requirements.
• Current military fitness tests vary across branches, with gender- and age-based adjustments for routine annual tests, while combat-specific roles already require gender-neutral standards.
• Critics warn that eliminating gender- and age-based scoring adjustments could impact recruitment and retention, especially if stricter standards are phased in quickly.
• The initiative highlights tensions between maintaining combat readiness and addressing inclusivity, with potential implications for recruitment, retention, and operational effectiveness across the armed forces.