Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempts to revise fitness standards to put male and female soldiers on equal footing seem to have backfired, according to a new report.
Last year, Hegseth introduced new sex-neutral fitness standards that sought to eliminate sex-based grading for combat soldiers on the military’s physical fitness exam. That exam includes a 3-mile run, push-ups or pull-ups, and an abdominal plank. When the standards were announced, some analysts worried it could lead to fewer women enlisting.
But a new report from The War Horse, a nonprofit newsroom, suggests that Hegseth’s new standards were not making the military more masculine, as he seemed to hope. The report found that 90% of female Marines in combat roles who took the fitness test passed or exceeded expectations.
Kris Fuhr, co-founder of the Women in the Service Coalition, told the outlet that she was not surprised by the outcome. Even so, she said the revised standards seemed to be based on an archaic belief of Hegseth’s.
“I think his mandate is based on the belief that women can’t meet men’s fitness standards within combat arms,” Fuhr said.
Fuhr added that the results show the resilience of enlisted female Marines.
“If you tell a woman what the standard is, she will do the work to not only meet it, but often exceed it,” she said.
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