During an address to senior military leaders on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth highlighted updated fitness and grooming requirements for military personnel.
Hegseth said all military members will be required to take a physical fitness test and meet height and weight requirements twice a year.
According to a memo sourced from a person knowledgeable about the matter, Hegseth indicated that every service member needs to successfully complete a standard service fitness evaluation. Additionally, those in combat roles will undergo a combat field test, while those in non-combat positions will take a combat readiness evaluation.
The height, weight and weight circumference standards are set to be published within 60 days, according to the memorandum.
Speaking to a gathering of hundreds of military leaders Tuesday at a Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, Hegseth issued a rebuke to those before him.
“Honestly, it’s exhausting to observe fighting units, or any unit for that matter, with overweight troops,” stated Hegseth. “Similarly, it is wholly inappropriate for overweight generals and admirals to be seen throughout the Pentagon while they oversee commands nationwide and globally.”
Just like other military personnel, generals and admirals must adhere to fitness standards, although their test scores are adjusted for age to accommodate the natural effects of aging.
It’s uncertain whether fitness standards for older leaders, who differ in age from the typical service member, will be modified or how any adjustments might be implemented.
Hegseth’s memo also noted that from now on, performance scores will be documented in service records instead of a simple pass/fail system, and these records will be periodically reviewed to ensure compliance.
Service members who don’t meet the standards will be placed in a remedial program and could face administrative separation if improvement is not made.
Hegseth also announced that all combat roles would return to male fitness standards, something he said was not designed to keep women out of combat, although that could be the end result.
“If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is,” he said. “If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent. But it could be the result. So be it.”
