Becoming a Marine Officer is a process. (My son was commissioned in December.) He attended two summer sessions at Quantico - one after sophomore year and one after junior. Both sessions have PFT as well as field exercises. His second session was about 20% smaller that his first. Some departed on their request; one was caught in thievery; others washed out. Part of them failed to meet the physical standards.
Now, if the standards were raised for the men - say, a 16 minute three mile - it is a logical inference that more men would be washing out.
Raising the standards for the women WILL increase the wash out rate for them and hence, fewer woman officers across the board. It’s pretty simple stuff.