Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lamented against “fat troops” and “woke” policies Tuesday, pledging to create higher physical fitness and grooming standards with gender neutral, age-normed criteria that match the current male fitness standards.
“It all starts with physical fitness and appearance,” Hegseth told hundreds of top military leaders during a speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.
“If the Secretary of War can do regular, hard PT [physical training], so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” he added while addressing the room full of generals and admirals.
Hegseth said he was in the process of ordering 10 department directives, the first of which would ensure that all requirements for every combat Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) “returns to the highest male standard, only because this job is life or death.”
The Pentagon is also implementing a combat field test for combat arms units that Hegseth said “must be executable in any environment, at any time, and with combat equipment.”
The Pentagon will require all members of the joint force to meet the height and weight standards twice per year, take and pass a PT test twice per year and work out during every duty day.
Also on Tuesday, Hegseth ordered that every service and unit conduct an “immediate review of their standards.”
“Any place where tried-and-true physical standards were altered, especially since 2015 when combat armed standards were changed to ensure females could qualify, must be returned to their original standard,” he said. “Other standards have been manipulated to hit racial quotas as well, which is just as unacceptable.
“When it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral. If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is,” he added.
The military has repeatedly said it did not lower qualification requirements for women to serve in some of its toughest combat posts.
“As long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before,” former Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in 2015.
Marine Corps researchers compared all-male and gender-integrated combat units from 2014 to 2015. They found that all-male units were faster and stronger, but the gender-integrated groups had better problem-solving skills. Morale remained the same among the units.
Women are currently held to the same standard as men to become infantry, fighter pilots, Army Rangers and to hold other combat posts.
There are still no women in the Navy SEALs, although at least two women have successfully completed the SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection (SOAS) program but did not proceed to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training.
The nonprofit Service Women’s Action Network pushed back Tuesday on policies “implying that the focus on diversity and inclusion distracts from the core mission of lethality.”
“Our diversity is not a vulnerability — it is our single greatest strategic advantage, a force multiplier that makes our military stronger, more resilient, and ultimately, more lethal in execution,” the group said in a statement.
The group reiterated the Marines Corps’ findings that diverse teams of men and women from every background are “proven to identify risks and develop more innovative, complete strategies than homogenous teams.” A force that better reflects the global population and diversity of the United States “builds deeper trust and achieves greater operational effectiveness overseas,” SWAN added.
Hegseth said his litmus test for the changes being implemented was whether he would want his eldest son to join the types of formations currently in the military.
“If in any way the answer to that is ‘No’ or even ‘Yes, but,’ then we’re doing something wrong,” he said.
Hegseth also pledged to improve grooming standards in ways critics argue could target the religious freedoms of U.S. service members.
“No more beards, long hair, superficial, individual expression. We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards and adhere to standards,” Hegseth said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on the Pentagon on Tuesday to clarify Hegseth’s order and affirm that the department would maintain the religious rights of all service members.
“The First Amendment guarantees military personnel the right to practice their faith — including the right of Muslim, Sikh and Jewish personnel to grow beards or cover their hair — as does established Pentagon policy,” CAIR said in a statement.
Another directive Hegseth announced at Quantico on Tuesday is geared toward “overhauling” the Inspector General process, which the secretary said had been “weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues and poor performers in the driver’s seat.”
“No more frivolous complaints. No more anonymous complaints. No more repeat complaints. No more smearing reputations. No more endless waiting. No more legal limbo. No more side-tracking careers. No more walking on eggshells,” Hegseth said.
The IG is currently investigating Hegseth for his use of Signal to share classified or sensitive information about an attack in Yemen earlier this year. Hegseth’s office has called it a “sham” review.
It was unclear Tuesday how this overhaul would affect the investigation.
RELATED
Hegseth called on military leaders who did not like the initiatives that he laid out on Tuesday to resign.
“If the words I’m speaking today are making your hearts sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” Hegseth said. “I know the overwhelming majority of you feel the opposite. These words make your hearts full.”
Speaking to Military Times on condition of anonymity, one U.S. official said that some exercises and operations concerning hurricane disaster response on the East Coast were thrown into temporary confusion as leaders tried to determine which officers would need to stay back and remain in charge of operations, and which commanders were needed for the speech.
