OPINION | COLUMNIST: ‘Equitable’ but not combat-ready

Americans are used to picturing Army combat soldiers as incredibly tough, able to run faster and do more pushups than most people. In today's Army, that notion is officially passé.

At a recent Senate hearing, we learned that Army physical fitness has been sacrificed on the altar of gender equity, a move that former infantryman Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) noted will "get soldiers killed."

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth admitted to Cotton that the service had abandoned efforts to ensure that soldiers' fitness in physically demanding Army career fields--such as artillery--was being continuously assessed to ensure they met the standards. A subsequent exchange revealed that the Army's minimum fitness standards have been dramatically compromised.

This wasn't what we were sold when President Barack Obama's Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter opened all combat positions to women seven years ago. He directed that "leaders assign tasks and career fields throughout the force based on ability, not gender."

Not all Army career fields require the same levels of physical fitness. A cyber sergeant doesn't need to run a seven-minute mile. But an artillery crew member must be able to lift and carry a 90-pound artillery shell.

So to ensure readiness of the force, the Army needed a way to make these continuing objective assessments to meet Carter's guidance that soldiers have abilities necessary for their career fields.

Enter the Army's new Combat Fitness Test or ACFT.

Unlike previous fitness tests, the ACFT had no categories for male and female. Color-coded scoring bands were established for each of the six ACFT events. For artillery crew members, the level of performance required were the highest, coded black.

To achieve the black standard for a two-mile run time, for example, a soldier needed to finish in 18 minutes and dead-lift 200 pounds.

Alarmed that women were scoring lower than men were on trial tests of the ACFT, Congress passed a law delaying the test and requiring an independent assessment.

Months later, Rand, who performed the study, returned with shocking news: Males and females score differently on fitness tests. Thus, greater numbers of women than men would not be eligible to serve and remain in the Army's most physically demanding career fields.

Under heavy pressure, the Army surrendered. They threw out the gender-neutral ACFT, effectively abandoning any effort to link continued physical fitness to career fields and simultaneously watering down the baseline fitness standards.

So now the entire Army is disadvantaged, its readiness degraded in the name of fairness.

Some may think this doesn't matter, that modern combat is all about pushing buttons. Think again. In Ukraine today, soldiers are lugging 90-pound shells and 50-pound Javelins all across the country to defeat Vladimir Putin's brutal invaders.

Cotton concluded his questioning by warning, "I'm not going to let it stand."

For the sake of America's Army, let's hope he doesn't.


Retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr is the director of The Heritage Foundation's Center for National Defense.


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