US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth drew criticism this week after suggesting that women in the armed forces had been allowed into combat jobs only because fitness standards were lowered. Speaking to military leaders at a Virginia base, he argued that women should be held to “the highest male standard,” even if it meant none qualified. His comments echoed arguments he has made before, but advocates for women in uniform said they ignored decades of evidence that many had met rigorous requirements, the New York Times reported.
Reactions from women veterans
Retired Navy captain Bobbie Scholley, who became one of the first women to complete the Navy’s deep-sea diving and salvage course in the 1980s, said she shut off the livestream of Hegseth’s address in frustration. She described his remarks as dismissive of the hard work women undertook to succeed in demanding roles. Similarly, retired Army lieutenant colonel Kate Wilder, the first woman to graduate from Army Special Forces training in 1980, said she met every standard without concessions and was never given special treatment.
The history of women in combat roles
Women’s access to military combat positions has expanded only gradually. They were first allowed to serve on warships and fly combat aircraft in 1993, and the ban on women serving on submarines ended in 2010. The Defense Department formally opened all combat roles to women in 2016. Since then, women have graduated from elite courses, including Army Ranger School and Special Forces training, disproving claims that standards were watered down.
Standards and ambiguity
The military has long used gender-based baselines for general entry fitness tests, but high-demand specialties have maintained gender-neutral requirements. Hegseth’s new directive called for combat personnel to meet “age-normed male standards scored above 70 percent,” though the Pentagon has yet to clarify which tests or benchmarks would be used. Critics say the lack of specificity risks politicizing fitness requirements that should remain rooted in operational demands.
Evidence from the field
Veterans point to decades of real-world performance as proof that women can meet the toughest requirements. Captain Scholley commanded salvage ships, led deep-sea recovery operations, and worked on missions including the stabilization of the USS Cole after a terrorist attack in 2000. Colonel Wilder overcame institutional resistance to graduate from Special Forces training, only for women to be barred again from the program until restrictions were lifted decades later. Both women emphasized that their success came from equal treatment, not lowered standards.
The broader implications
Hegseth’s remarks come at a time when the Defense Department is grappling with recruitment challenges and debates over diversity, cohesion and readiness. For advocates of gender equality in the armed forces, the secretary’s comments risk undermining progress by reviving narratives that women advanced only through lowered expectations. As Colonel Wilder put it: “If I can make it, don’t put up a ‘do not enter’ sign because I was born female. That doesn’t cut it.”
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