Hegseth orders Pentagon to review military standards

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is ordering a review of military fitness and grooming standards as the Trump administration continues to reverse policies critics say have made America’s fighting force appear weaker on the global stage. 

In a memo Wednesday to senior Pentagon leadership, Hegseth ordered Darin Selnick, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, to gather existing standards in all U.S. military branches related to physical fitness, body composition and grooming, including regulations on beards. 

“We must remain vigilant in maintaining the standards that enable the men and women of our military to protect the American people and our homeland as the world’s most lethal and effective fighting force,” Hegseth said in a statement. “Our adversaries are not growing weaker, and our tasks are not growing less challenging.”

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth talks to the media during his visit to the headquarters of U.S. European Command and Africa Command at the Africa Command at Kelly Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany, Feb. 11, 2025.  (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The review will “illuminate how the department has maintained the level of standards required over the recent past and the trajectory of any change in those standards,” he added. 

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, participates in physical training with the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), a U.S. Army Special Forces battalion based in Stuttgart, Germany.  (DefSec Hegseth on X)

Leaders will look at how those standards have changed since Jan. 1, 2015, and provide insight into how they have evolved and the effect of those changes.  

Hegseth has vowed to bring back tougher standards while reversing “woke” policies that don’t align with restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military and reestablishing deterrence.   

U.S. Army Capt. Kristen Griest participates in training at the U.S. Army Ranger School April 20, 2015, at Fort Benning, Ga. (Scott Brooks/U.S. Army via Getty Images)

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“Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear,” he said in a Jan. 25 memo to service members. “The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose.”