Hegseth Orders Fitness Standards To Be Gender Neutral For Combat Jobs. Many Already Are

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to make fitness standards for all combat jobs gender neutral, formalizing a process that largely exists for many of those jobs already.

In a new memo, Hegseth told leaders of the military services to distinguish which jobs are considered combat arms - such as special operations or infantry, and require "heightened entry level and sustained physical fitness" - and which are not.

The memo released Monday said all physical fitness requirements for those combat arms positions must be gender neutral, "based solely on the operational demands of the occupation and the readiness needed to confront any adversary."

The new order expands on a memo Hegseth put out March 12 that said the undersecretary for personnel must gather information on military standards "pertaining to physical fitness, body composition, and grooming, which includes but is not limited to beards."

Both reflect Hegseth's public complaints about fitness standards well before he took on the Pentagon job. While working as a Fox News commentator, Hegseth spoke about his opposition to women in combat jobs and his belief that standards were lowered to accommodate women.