Particle.news
Download on the App Store
12 ARTICLES
·
2mo ago

Pentagon Launches Six-Month Review of Women in Ground Combat Roles

Defense officials say an independent analysis of Army and Marine data will verify elite, sex‑neutral combat standards.

Image
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth addresses a crowd of soldiers and others during a celebration in honor of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army in Fort Bragg, N.C., on June 10, 2025.
Cpl. Jessica Stewart, an automatic rifleman with the Ground Combat Element Integrated Task Force at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, Feb. 24, 2015.

Overview

  • A December memo from Undersecretary Anthony Tata instructs the Army and Marine Corps to provide readiness, training, performance, casualty and command‑climate data, with points of contact due to the Institute for Defense Analyses by Jan. 15.
  • The nonprofit Institute for Defense Analyses will examine unit outcomes and individual deployability metrics over six months, including any internal, nonpublic studies on integration.
  • Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said the review aims to ensure standards are met and remain elite, uniform and sex neutral to maintain a lethal force.
  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously opposed women in ground combat and has ordered a return to the “highest male” physical standards, noting some roles could end up with no women qualifying.
  • Veterans and lawmakers, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, argue the effort risks narrowing women’s roles, pointing to Army reviews from 2019–2023 that found no degradation in unit readiness; about 3,800 women serve in Army combat arms and roughly 700 in the Marine Corps, with some completing Ranger and Green Beret training.