By The Federalist. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo on Sunday ordering the return of “sex-neutral standards” for military combat roles.

“We need to have the same standards, male or female, in our combat roles to ensure our men and women who are under our leaders or in those formations, have the best possible leaders and the highest possible standards that are not based at all on your sex,” Hegseth said.

According to a copy of the directive obtained by The Federalist, Hegseth has instructed the secretaries of America’s military departments to “develop comprehensive plans to distinguish combat arms occupations from non-combat arms occupations.” These plans, as specified by the defense secretary, must also “identify which positions require heightened entry-level and sustained physical fitness” for “certain combat arms roles.”

“These roles, which are critical to our military’s mission success, demand exceptional physical capabilities, and the standards for them must reflect that rigor,” Hegseth wrote.

The plans to be developed by the military departments must address “Ground Combat Operations,” “Special Operations Forces (SOF) Occupations,” and “Specialized Occupations,” according to the directive. (Read more from “Hegseth Signs Memo Ordering Return To ‘Sex-Neutral Standards’ In The Military” HERE)

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Hegseth Orders Same Physical Requirements for Men, Women in Combat Roles, Says U.S. ‘Allowed Standards to Slip’

By New York Post. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo Monday ordering men and women to meet the same physical fitness requirements if they want to serve in combat roles, saying the Pentagon had “allowed standards to slip.”

“Different standards for men and women in combat arms, MOS and jobs, that’s not acceptable,” Hegseth said in a video posted to X, using the abbreviation for “military occupational specialty,” or job type.

“We have to have the same standard — male or female — in our combat roles to ensure our men and women who are under our leaders, or in those formations, have the best possible leaders and the highest possible standards that are not based at all on your sex.”

The memo, which orders the military branches to “develop comprehensive plans to distinguish combat arms occupations from non-combat arms occupations,” specifies in hand-underlined text that the soon-to-be-developed standards must not “result in any existing service member being held to a lower standard.”

“All entry-level and sustained physical fitness requirements within combat arms positions must be sex-neutral, based solely on the operational demands of the occupation and the readiness needed to confront any adversary,” Hegseth wrote. (Read more from “Hegseth Orders Same Physical Requirements for Men, Women in Combat Roles, Says U.S. ‘Allowed Standards to Slip’” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr