Hegseth Orders Male-Level Fitness, Tightens Military Standards

At a rare, largely secretive gathering of senior commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denounced decades of decay and a "woke" culture in the military, criticized "fat generals and admirals," and defended recent firings of flag officers. He announced sweeping personnel directives requiring every service member to meet height-and-weight standards, take two fitness tests a year, and perform hard daily physical training, while combat roles will be held to the highest ("male") fitness benchmarks. Grooming rules will be strictly enforced with limited special-operations exceptions, and promotions must be merit-based rather than awarded for identity or "historic firsts." Hegseth said he would change how discrimination complaints and investigations are handled and signaled reductions to some disciplinary safeguards to restore a "warrior ethos." He told leaders who disagree to resign, framed the moves as correcting years of poor political leadership, and was publicly backed by President Trump. Videos and extensive news coverage of the speech have provoked controversy over the gender-neutral application of male benchmarks, tighter appearance policing, and the political tone of the reforms.