Pete Hegseth Announces Major Change to Combat Readiness Standards for Women and Men

Conservative News DailyMarch 31, 2025

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on social media that he will issue a memo to establish equal standards for men and women in combat roles across the military. Hegseth emphasized that current varying standards are unacceptable and stated that all service members in combat should be held to the same high standards,irrespective of sex. This initiative comes after dissatisfaction regarding the performance benchmarks used in the army’s combat fitness tests and in Army Ranger school, where female candidates reportedly had more chances to pass certain tests. Hegseth’s declaration follows criticism he faced during his confirmation for previously suggesting potential restrictions for women in combat roles, though he clarified his support for high operational standards. The Pentagon has not commented on the announcement yet.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will issue a memo setting equal standards for men and women in combat roles across the armed services, he announced Monday on social media platform X.

The memo aims to implement the same set of standards for all service members involved in combat, regardless of sex, Hegseth said on X. Hegseth said the services would review the guidance to ensure the “highest and equal standards for men and women in combat.”

“For far too long, we have allowed standards to slip,” Hegseth said in his post. “We’ve had different standards for men/women serving in combat arms MOS’s [Military Occupational Specialties] and jobs … That’s not acceptable, and it changes right now!”

For far too long, we have allowed standards to slip. We’ve had different standards for men/women serving in combat arms MOS’s and jobs….

That’s not acceptable, and it changes right now! pic.twitter.com/Zn9OyBew6G

— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) March 31, 2025

Men and women currently have different standards for combat roles, with the U.S. Army deciding to make different standards for men and women in the Army Combat Fitness Test in 2022 after the RAND Corporation found in a study that women failed the test at much higher rates than their male counterparts; 65 percent of women were failing the ACFT (compared to 10 percent of men) at one point in 2021, which prompted the change in standards.

Additionally, female candidates in Army Ranger school were reportedly given more chances to pass tests during the so-called “RAP week,” the first five days of ranger school, according to multiple Army Rangers’ testimonies.

Hegseth took flak from Senate Democrats during his confirmation hearing for his past comments on potentially barring women from combat roles. However, he walked back the comments during the hearing, instead saying he supported standards that “maximize efficacy” instead of setting different standards based on sex.

“Women will have access to ground combat roles given the standards remain high,” Hegseth said during the hearing. “We’ll have a review to make sure standards have not been eroded in any of these cases.”

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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