“All entry-level and sustained physical fitness requirements within combat arms positions must be sex-neutral, based solely on the operational demands of the occupation and the readiness needed to confront any adversary. In establishing those standards, the Secretaries of the Military Departments may not establish standards that would result in any existing Service member being held to a lower standard,” it also said.
The new memo comes after Hegseth ordered a review of military fitness and grooming standards earlier this month. Hegseth has vowed to bring back tougher standards while reversing “woke” policies that don’t align with restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military and reestablishing deterrence.
“Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear,” he said in a Jan. 25 memo to service members. “The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose.”
While in Japan, Hegseth announced a plan to upgrade the U.S. military command in the country, which he described as indispensable in combating Chinese aggression.
“We share a warrior ethos that defines our forces,” Hegseth told Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in Tokyo, adding that Japan is “our indispensable partner” in “deterring communist Chinese military aggression,” including across the Taiwan Strait.
Hegseth said Japan is a “cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific” and that the Trump administration would continue to work closely with the Asian country.
Last year, then-President Joe Biden’s administration announced a major restructuring of the U.S. military command in Japan to deepen coordination with the country’s forces, as the two allied countries called China their “greatest strategic challenge.”
The change will place a combined operational commander in Japan, who would be a counterpart to the head of a joint operations command established last week by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.
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