Camilla Jessen
Women in combat back under review as Pentagon steps in.
The Pentagon has begun a six-month evaluation of the “effectiveness” of women serving in ground combat roles, according to Military Times. The review was first reported by NPR and is outlined in a December memo from Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel Anthony Tata.
Army and Marine Corps leaders have been asked to submit data on readiness, training, performance, casualties and command climate within ground combat units. The assessment will focus on how women have integrated since the ban on their participation in frontline infantry, armored and artillery roles was lifted nearly 10 years ago.
Pentagon officials said the aim is to examine the “operational effectiveness of ground combat units.”
Pentagon justification
“The Institute for Defense Analyses is examining the effectiveness of the presence of women in ground combat roles to ensure that standards are met and that the United States maintains its most lethal military,” Pentagon spokesman Kingsley Wilson told Military Times.
The Institute for Defense Analyses is a private, nonprofit organization funded largely by the federal government to conduct research for the Department of Defense.
“Our standards for combat positions need to be elite, uniform, and gender-neutral because the weight of a backpack or a person doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman,” Wilson added, saying Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “will not compromise standards to satisfy quotas or an ideological agenda — it’s about common sense.”
Standards under scrutiny
Hegseth, who has previously opposed women in ground combat roles, introduced revised physical standards in a speech to military leaders in September. He said all combat roles must meet the “highest male standard.”
“If that means no women qualify for some combat positions, so be it,” Hegseth said.
“I don’t want my son to serve with untrained troops or in a combat unit with women who can’t meet the same physical standards as men,” he added. “The standards need to be uniform, gender-neutral, and high.”
Longstanding debate
Before his nomination, Hegseth said on Shawn Ryan’s podcast: “I’m saying straight out that we shouldn’t have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective. It hasn’t made us more lethal. It’s made combat more complicated.”
During his confirmation hearing, he later said: “Women will have access to ground combat roles, provided that standards remain high, and we will do an assessment to make sure that standards have not been eroded.”
According to Defense Department data published in 2023, women made up 17.7% of the U.S. Army’s active-duty force.
Sources: Military Times, NPR, U.S. Department of Defense
