The Pentagon has issued a six-month review of women’s “readiness” in ground combat jobs after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has repeatedly made it clear he doesn’t think they’re up to the task.
The review of military “effectiveness,” first reported by NPR, is supposedly to determine the value of having several thousand female soldiers and Marines in infantry, armor and artillery, according to an internal seven-page memo. The Pentagon wants to know about women’s “readiness” along with their “ability to deploy,” including physical and medical abilities.
Army and Marine leaders will also have to provide data — including any internal research that hasn’t been made public — on training, performance, casualties and command climate of ground combat units by Jan. 15, according to the memo.
When he gave a speech in September to hundreds of military commanders in Virginia, Hegseth questioned women’s fitness to serve and pledged that the requirement to serve “returns to the highest male standard.”
“When it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral,” Hegseth, an Army National Guard veteran with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, said at the time. “If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent, but it could be the result.”
His comments set off a backlash among decorated female veterans who were proud to serve their country — but they didn’t stop Hegseth, who made similar remarks when he was a Fox News host, from continuing to question whether women can serve just as well as men can.
There are about 3,800 women currently serving in infantry, armor and artillery, according to NPR — including more than 150 women who completed Ranger training and 10 or so who passed Green Beret training. In the Marines, about 700 women are in ground combat roles. But no matter what position they’re in, they must all pass the same requirements as their male counterparts.
In an emailed statement, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson blasted military “quotas” and wrote that the study is to “ensure standards are met and the United States maintains the most lethal military.”