Combat troops will have to meet "highest male standard," Hegseth says

From CNN's Haley Britzky

Army soldiers rest on a tank during combat training in Killeen, Texas, on June 3.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

The US military will require those in combat jobs meet “this highest male standard only,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Tuesday, saying that every service member in a combat job in the military must score above a 70% in the “male standard” of their service’s physical fitness test.

“I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out shape, or in a combat unit with females who can’t meet the same Combat Arms physical standards as men, or troops who are not fully proficient on their assigned weapons, platform, or task, or under a leader who was the first but not the best. Standards must be uniform, gender neutral and high,” Hegseth said.

Some background: Hegseth has long railed against allegedly lowered standards for women to be in combat roles, in books and podcast appearances and during his confirmation hearing at the beginning of this year. When pressed by lawmakers previously to offer evidence of standards being lowered, he did not.

“When it comes to combat arms units, and there are many different stripes across our joint force, the era of politically correct, overly sensitive, don’t hurt anyone’s feelings leadership ends right now,” Hegseth continued Tuesday. “At every level, either you can meet the standard, either you can do the job, either you are disciplined, fit, and trained, or you are out.”

Hegseth later said that this is “not about preventing women from serving,” and that the military values “the impact of female troops.”

“Our female officers and NCOs (noncommissioned officers) are the absolute best in the world, but when it comes to any job with physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral. If women can make it, excellent, if not, it is what it is,” he said.

This post has been updated with more of Hegseth’s remarks