US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has previously expressed opposition to women serving in combat, has ordered the military to develop gender-neutral physical fitness standards for frontline troops, a memo released Monday said.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has previously expressed opposition to women serving in combat, has ordered the military to develop gender-neutral physical fitness standards for frontline troops, a memo released Monday said.
I’m not going to down vote you over it because most people outside the military don’t know. But the Army just spent 10 years making a fitness test that more closely resembles combat tasks. Hegseth is not saying this in good faith.
So they make them pass the combat standard anyway? So this was all pointless?
Yup. Every soldier needs to be able to fight. The last 20 years has seen enemies actively avoid attacking combat arms units and going after traditionally non combat units wherever possible. That and the ability to press anyone into the frontline is why everyone needs to be able to pass the test.
Also, to make things even more interesting, combat units already hold their soldiers to a soft standard that’s higher than non combat units. You won’t get discharged for not meeting it but you will do extra exercises, get held back on promotions, and not go to schools for additional skills. If they thought their women weren’t making the standard they literally just wouldn’t promote them, and they’d highly encourage them to change jobs.