WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to make fitness standards for all combat jobs gender neutral, formalizing a process that largely exists for many of those jobs already.
In a new memo, Hegseth told leaders of the military services to distinguish which jobs are considered combat arms — such as special operations or infantry, and require “heightened entry level and sustained physical fitness" — and which are not.
The memo released Monday said all physical fitness requirements for those combat arms positions must be gender neutral, “based solely on the operational demands of the occupation and the readiness needed to confront any adversary.”
The new order expands on a memo Hegseth put out March 12 that said the undersecretary for personnel must gather information on military standards “pertaining to physical fitness, body composition, and grooming, which includes but is not limited to beards.”
Both reflect Hegseth's public complaints about fitness standards well before he took on the Pentagon job. While working as a Fox News commentator, Hegseth spoke about his opposition to women in combat jobs and his belief that standards were lowered to accommodate women.
The order, however, could require some complicated assessments as all the services go through their jobs and determine which should be considered combat arms. For example, which sailors on a Navy warship deployed to the Middle East and being fired on by the Houthi rebels should be considered in a combat post?
On smaller ships, it's not unusual for sailors to perform a number of different tasks, including firing weapons. And, should intelligence officers, who often were on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, also count as combat arms?
The military has long had what is largely a two-part system for physical fitness standards:
— Routine annual fitness tests with different requirements based on gender and age.
— More grueling standards for specific combat, special operations, infantry, armor, pararescue jumpers and other jobs that are the same for everyone in that occupation, and are not adjusted for age or gender.
Hegseth's memo appears to focus on the second grouping — arguing that combat jobs require more stringent fitness standards.
Already, however, specific military jobs like special operations, infantry, armor and pararescue require different, higher-level physical — and often mental and psychological — tests, requirements and qualification courses.
Those standards require everyone to meet the same requirements, regardless of their age or gender. For example, an Army soldier who wants to be a Green Beret or a Ranger, or a sailor who wants to be a Navy SEAL, must pass grueling monthslong qualification courses.
Also, after the Pentagon allowed women to be in all combat jobs, the Army set specific fitness standards for each military occupation that are the same regardless of age or gender.
Recruits who want to serve in an infantry or armor job must pass a specific physical assessment that has higher, more significant demands in order to sign a contract for that specialty.
Similarly, Marines also require more extensive fitness standards for their special operations forces and combat jobs.
Hegseth's memo mentions higher fitness requirements for special operations forces — which already exist. And it says Navy divers and explosive ordnance disposal technicians also should be required to have proficiency in tasks such as water rescue and demolition, which they already do.
The order gives service leaders 60 days to provide their proposed changes. They have 30 days to provide an interim report.
“As the nature of warfare evolves and the demands on our service members grow more complex, it is imperative that we assess and refine the physical fitness standards that enable our readiness and lethality,” Hegseth said in the memo.
FILE - Female Marines go through one of the obstacles in the so-called confidence course at Parris Island Recruit Depot, S.,C., on May 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Lolita Baldor, File)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth waits for the arrival of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the prime minister's office in Tokyo Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Stanislav Kogiku/Pool Photo via AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
