Exclusive–Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Orders Force-Wide Review of Existing Fitness and Grooming Standards

Breitbart ^ | 12 Mar 2025 | Kristina Wong

[Olog-hai]

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday ordered a department-wide review of existing standards for each military branch on physical fitness, body composition, and grooming — including on beards, Breitbart News has exclusively learned.

“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 March 12, 2025, memorandum ordering the review.

“Our adversaries are not growing weaker, and our tasks are not growing less challenging. This 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. […]

Hegseth has made returning the military to its core mission of warfighting his top priority, which includes having forces ready and fit to fight. …

[BlackbirdSST]

AGREED!

Sorry for shouting.

[Highest Authority]

It was my understanding that the beret (sp) was Clinton’s tribute to Monica Lawinski.

[fredhead]

Being retired Navy, I long for the return of the dungaree working uniform. Current uniform (being phased out) is a green camo BDU, and the replacement looks like hospital scrubs.

Make Sailors look like Sailors!

[maddog55]

Nearly 70% of U.S. service members are classified as overweight or obese... Pathetic.

[DownInFlames]

“I don’t know what I’ve been told, Eskimo pu@@y is mighty cold”.

[hal ogen]

From what I have observed there is an extreme need for “fat farms”...in every rank.

[cgbg]

In this case “trim the fat” has a double meaning.

Lol.

[Tahoe3002]

Amen! No berets except for those you mentioned.

And I am a Marine.

[Night Hides Not]

I was a Headquarters Battery Commander at Fort Bliss in 83-84 (cooks and clerks). They were “my soldiers” for an hour a day. I led them In calisthenics and a two mile run in formation five days a week. Our pass rate on the APRT was over 98.5%. The five or six that failed passed the second time.

It’s not rocket science.

[Pilsner]

I believe soldiers must be clean shaven when in uniform, or on post in civilian clothes. So, it does not violate the grooming standards for a soldier to appear on post, unshaven, while naked.

Probably doesn’t come up all that often…