Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just dropped the woke hammer: No more gender-specific standards for military combat roles – if you can’t carry your wounded brother off the battlefield, you don’t belong there regardless of what’s in your pants.
At a Glance
- Secretary Hegseth has mandated uniform physical fitness standards for all combat positions regardless of gender
- The policy requires military services to establish standards based solely on operational demands, not identity politics
- This reverses previous “equity” efforts that implemented different standards for men and women
- Service branches have 60 days to propose changes with implementation by October
- Hegseth: “For far too long, we have allowed standards to slip”
Finally, Common Sense Returns to Military Standards
In a refreshing blast of sanity that’s long overdue, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to establish gender-neutral fitness standards for combat roles. Remember when the military was about winning wars and not social engineering? Hegseth certainly does. After years of watching our armed forces become a laboratory for progressive gender experiments, someone finally had the courage to state the obvious: bullets, bombs, and enemies don’t care about your pronouns, and neither should our fitness standards.
Hegseth’s directive mandates that physical requirements for combat positions must be based solely on what’s needed to win battles, not to make people feel included. What a concept! The battlefield isn’t a safe space, and the enemy won’t be handing out participation trophies. This is about ensuring every single person in a combat unit can pull their weight – literally – when lives are on the line.
The Era of Different Standards Is Over
Let’s call this what it really is – a return to reality. For years, we’ve watched as military leadership bowed to political pressure, implementing different physical standards that magically made it possible for certain demographics to qualify for roles they wouldn’t otherwise meet the requirements for. The progressive elites pushing this agenda never seemed concerned with the consequences when bullets start flying. Apparently, checking diversity boxes became more important than combat effectiveness.
Hegseth didn’t mince words about the current situation, stating bluntly: “For far too long, we have allowed standards to slip. We’ve had different standards for men and women serving in combat arms MOS’s and jobs…. That’s not acceptable, and it changes right now!”, says Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
The military currently operates with a two-tier system: basic annual fitness tests (which do vary by age and gender) and more stringent standards for combat roles. Hegseth’s memo doesn’t eliminate all gender-specific standards across the military but ensures that for the most demanding combat positions, everyone must meet the same bar. This isn’t revolutionary – it’s just acknowledging that enemy combatants don’t care about your gender identity when they’re shooting at you.
— @amuse (@amuse) January 13, 2025
The Predictable Progressive Meltdown
You can already hear the progressive outrage machine whirring to life. They’ll claim this is an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion. They’ll say it’s sexist and regressive. What they won’t address is the fundamental question: Should our military prioritize combat effectiveness or social experimentation? Because when you’re bleeding out on a battlefield, you don’t care about the gender of the person dragging you to safety – you care whether they’re strong enough to do it.
“As the nature of warfare evolves and the demands on our service members grow more complex, it is imperative that we assess and refine the physical fitness standards that enable our readiness and lethality”, concludes Hegseth.
Service leaders now have 60 days to propose changes and 30 days to provide interim reports. The new standards must be implemented by October. It’s worth noting that combat jobs already have stringent fitness requirements that are gender-neutral. This directive ensures that all branches maintain those high standards instead of quietly watering them down to meet arbitrary demographic goals. The memo specifically calls out special operations forces, which require even higher fitness levels due to their intensive mission profiles.
A Return to Military Excellence
This isn’t about excluding anyone – it’s about ensuring everyone who serves in combat roles can perform when it matters most. Hegseth made this crystal clear when he stated that women should not be in combat units if they cannot meet the same standards as men. That’s not discrimination; it’s common sense. Our military’s purpose is to defend the nation and win wars, not to serve as a social justice workshop where feelings trump capability.
The left has spent years pushing the idea that acknowledging physical differences between men and women is somehow bigoted. Meanwhile, in the real world, these differences can determine who lives and who dies in combat situations. Hegseth’s policy recognizes this reality without apology. The standard isn’t about your gender – it’s about whether you can drag a 220-pound wounded soldier to safety while under enemy fire. If you can do that, welcome aboard. If not, find another way to serve.
For the first time in too long, we’re seeing a return to the basics: a military focused on military effectiveness. What a refreshing change from the endless DEI initiatives that put identity politics above national security. Our enemies are building their military might while we’ve been busy making sure our physical fitness tests don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. Thank God someone finally decided enough is enough.
