Hegset ordered male and female U.S. military personnel to undergo the same physical tests
Kyiv • UNN
The U.S. Secretary of Defense has ordered all military personnel, regardless of gender, to meet the same physical fitness requirements for combat positions. This supplements existing standards.
A new Pentagon directive orders that all physical fitness requirements for these combat positions must be gender neutral.
UNN reports with reference to New York Post.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a memorandum ordering men and women to meet the same physical fitness requirements if they want to serve in combat positions.
I instruct the Secretaries of the Military Departments to develop comprehensive plans to distinguish combat-related positions from non-combat-related ones
The new order complements Hegseth's March 12 memo, which stated that the Deputy Secretary for Personnel should collect information on military standards, "relating to physical fitness, body composition, and self-care, including but not limited to beards."
For reference
The military has long had a two-part system of physical fitness standards:
- regular annual fitness tests with different requirements depending on gender and age;
- More strenuous standards for specific combat operations, special operations, infantry, armored vehicles, para-rescue and other jobs that are the same for everyone in that profession and are not adjusted for age or gender.
Hegseth's note appears to focus on the second group, arguing that combat tasks require more stringent physical fitness standards.
Hegseth did not previously believe that women could serve in combat units
Hegseth's complaints about physical fitness standards appeared long before he started working at the Pentagon. Prior to his appointment as Secretary of Defense, Hegseth said on a podcast that he opposed women serving in combat forces. While working as a commentator on Fox News, Hegseth stated his belief that physical standards are lowered to accommodate women.
He is currently trying to distance himself from previous statements.
Women will have access to ground combat positions... if the requirements remain high
Let us remind you
In Lithuania, an armored vehicle of missing American soldiers was pulled out of the swamp.
The bodies of 3 US soldiers were found after lifting an M88 armored personnel carrier from a swamp in Lithuania. The search for another missing soldier continues. The President of Lithuania expressed his condolences.
