Defense Department to conduct review of 'effectiveness' of women in ground combat roles

The Defense Department will conduct a six-month review of the "effectiveness" of women in ground combat roles, according to a memo.

Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel Anthony Tata wrote in a memo last month that the review is to determine the "operational effectiveness of ground combat units 10 years after the Department lifted all remaining restrictions on women serving in combat roles," NPR reported.

Tata requested that Army and Marine Corps leaders provide data on the readiness, training, performance, casualties, and command climate of ground combat units and personnel. The two military branches are to provide points of contact by Jan. 15 to the Institute for Defense Analyses, a nonprofit corporation that assists the government on national security issues. According to the memo, the data should include "all available metrics describing that individual's readiness and ability to deploy (including physical, medical, and other measures of ability to deploy)."

Additionally, the memo asks for any internal research and studies on "the integration of women in combat."

DOD press secretary Kingsley Wilson told NPR that the review is to "ensure standards are met and the United States maintains the most lethal military. Our standards for combat arms positions will be elite uniform, and sex neutral because the weight of a rucksack or a human being doesn't care if you're a man or a woman. Under [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth, the Department of War's [sic] will not compromise standards to satisfy quotas or an ideological agenda—this is common sense."