(NewsNation) — The Pentagon has launched a review into the “effectiveness” of women in ground-combat jobs after a decade of being able to hold the roles, according to a memo obtained and first reported on by NPR.
The December memo, penned by Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel Anthony Tata, requires Army and Marine Corps leaders to submit data on the readiness, performance, training, casualties and command climate of their ground units by Jan. 15.
The information will go to the Institute for Defense Analyses, a nonprofit organization that assists the U.S. government.
In a statement to NewsNation partner The Hill, press secretary Kingsley Wilson said the 10-year review will “ensure standards are met and the United States maintains the most lethal military.”
The assessment announcement follows a 2025 address from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth where he outlined new physical fitness and grooming standards for service members — including rules that may exclude women from combat roles.
“I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape, or in combat units with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men,” he said to a crowd of the military’s top leaders. “This job is life and death. Standards must be met.”
“If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it,” he continued.
Hegseth, an Army National Guard veteran, has taken aim at women’s combat roles before his tenure in the Trump administration began. In 2024, while working as a Fox News host, Hegseth advocated against women filling those jobs and argued they were better at supporting roles.
“Women in the infantry — women in combat on purpose — is another story,” he wrote. The comments nearly upended his nomination for Defense Secretary and led to a testy confirmation hearing.