Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a letter on Sunday ordering the returning of” sex-neutral requirements” for military conflict jobs.
” We need to have the same specifications, male or female, in our fight responsibilities to ensure our men and women who are under our rulers or in those rocks, have the best possible officials and the highest possible specifications that are not based at all on your sex”, Hegseth said.
According to a backup of the law obtained by The Federalist, Hegseth has instructed the secretaries of America’s defense departments to “develop detailed plans to separate battle arms occupations from non-combat arms occupations”. These plans, as specified by the defence secretary, has even “identify which positions require heightened entry-level and sustained physical health” for “certain fight arms roles”.
” These responsibilities, which are critical to our government’s goal achievement, require exceptional physical abilities, 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.
Most significant about Sunday’s letter, however, are its guidance for military sections to abide by” sex-neutral requirements” when drafting their programs. It specifies that” ]a ] ll 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”.
” In establishing those requirements, the Secretary of the Martial Ministries may not establish norms that would result in any existing Service member being held to a lower standard”, the letter reads.
All military department secretaries must submit” an interim update” on the status of their plans to the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness no later than 30 days after the memo’s issuance. Final reports must be submitted within 60 days of the memo’s release.
These plans will take effect “within six months of submission”, according to the directive.
” For too long, the U. S. military has let standards slip for men and women serving in combat arms jobs. Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership, our standards will be high, uniform, uncompromising, and clear”, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Federalist.
The issue of women serving in military combat roles was a prominent issue during Hegseth’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this year. The body’s Democrat members ( and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa ) were adamant in their collective belief that the military should be able to deploy women to the trenches to fight America’s wars.
Despite such impassioned arguments, available data suggests that there is no discernable benefit to the policy.
For example, in 2015, under the Obama administration, the Marine Corps conducted an analysis comparing the efficiency of all-male and mixed-sex combat units. According to the , Marine , Corps Times, the study found that the former outperformed the latter “in nearly every capacity”.
The outlet reported that sex-integrated units not only “performed at lower overall levels, completed tasks more slowly and fired weapons with less accuracy than their all-male counterparts”, but female Marines also” sustained significantly higher injury rates and demonstrated lower levels of physical performance capacity overall”.
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Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
