Micah Ables
From the value of allies to the importance of keeping secret communications secret, I have disagreed with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on many things. We’ve had different backgrounds, experiences and incentives that have shaped our very different perspectives.
It’s no secret that I strongly opposed his earlier stance and comments against allowing women in combat arms. But I have to give credit where credit is due: His recent order that the military adopt a sex-neutral fitness standard for combat arms branches is not just reasonable — it’s the right policy.
The March 30 order directed all military branches to end separate fitness standards for men and women in combat arms occupation. Gender-normed standards have been left in place for non-combat roles.
The directive requires the services to submit their change plans by the end of May, and implement them by the end of the fiscal year. Already, the Army has announced its plan to implement sex-neutral fitness standards for 21 combat arms jobs beginning in June.
In a previous lifetime, I was the commander of one of the Army’s first sex-integrated infantry companies. Back then, amid a wave of bad-faith arguments in the press, I wrote an op-ed describing my experience. In it, I tried to have an honest conversation about the ground truth and what it actually meant to have women in the infantry.
I was frustrated that everyone was yelling past each other. One side screamed that women were biologically unfit, citing hormones, physiology and unit cohesion. The other side insisted that women had to be integrated, largely because not doing so hurt women’s promotion potential and failed to meet diversity goals.
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