The Pentagon is terminating a decades-old advisory group that supplied suggestions on find out how to assist women serving in the military, together with previous options that women wanted correctly becoming physique armor and applicable well being care.
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson stated in a post on X on Tuesday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had determined to remove the group, formally referred to as the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, saying that the committee, “focused on advancing a divisive feminist agenda that hurts combat readiness.”
“Secretary Hegseth has focused on advancing uniform, sex-neutral standards across the Department,” Wilson stated.
The termination of the committee, initially created in 1951 as women have been simply starting to take on elevated roles in the military, is the newest transfer by Hegseth who has positioned intense scrutiny on Pentagon variety initiatives.
Late Tuesday Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added a response on X to Wilson’s put up saying the elimination of the committee saying, “Gender neutral, color blind, merit based.”
The group supplied recommendation and coverage suggestions to the Secretary of Defense based mostly on visits to US military installations, focus group discussions with service members, discussions with subject material consultants and Pentagon representatives.
The suggestions that got here from that analysis ranged from well being care and bodily health assessments to home abuse assist, physique armor and acquisition coverage in military aviation. Many of these suggestions impression males in addition to women — issues like household planning or parental go away, which is a high cause each males and women cite for why they go away military service.
During the first time period of President Donald Trump, in 2018, the committee really helpful in a report back to the protection secretary that he ought to require the military companies to supply gear that match women after reviews of points in the companies.
“Properly fitting equipment is essential to the success of individual service members as well as the military as a whole,” the 2018 report stated.
The work the committee did was largely dependent on the secretary with the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness offering analysis subjects.
“Everything that the committee has done has improved the overall readiness of the entirety of the military,” Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, a Marine Corps veteran who was on the Committee on Women in the Services this 12 months, advised NCS. “Doing away with a committee like this is going to be a loss for loss for the country.”
Policies that “have very often gotten labeled as sort of women’s issues or women’s policies … also help men” in keeping with analysis by the committee, Hunter stated. “They help with the retention of men and the recruitment of men.”
The committee was included in a broader assessment of Defense Department advisory teams began earlier this 12 months. The assessment itself wasn’t unusual, Hunter stated, however as time went on, conferences have been postponed, and actions have been suspended. As of Wednesday morning, committee members have been nonetheless awaiting formal notification of subsequent steps.
The transfer is the newest in a collection by Hegseth which have eradicated efforts to extend the function of women in military management and planning.
In April, Hegseth introduced he could be ending the Defense Department’s Women, Peace, and Security program calling it “yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative.” The program, designed to encourage commanders to think about the impacts of gender on native populations and forces when planning for operations, was enacted by President Donald Trump throughout his first time period and championed by his daughter, Ivanka Trump.
Hegseth has additionally fired or changed a lot of women in management positions in a broader purge of military personnel, together with former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first girl to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whom he referred to as a “DEI hire” in his 2024 e book; Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, the first girl to function the superintendent of the Naval Academy; and Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, who served as the US military consultant to NATO. The Trump administration additionally eliminated Adm. Linda Fagan, the first girl to steer the Coast Guard.
During his affirmation course of, Hegseth got here below hearth for his repeated past comments about his beliefs that women shouldn’t serve in fight in the military.
“Women shouldn’t be in combat at all,” Hegseth stated in an interview final 12 months. “They’re life-givers, not life-takers. I know a lot of wonderful soldiers, female soldiers, who have served, who are great. But they shouldn’t be in my infantry battalion.”
He appeared to backtrack throughout his affirmation listening to when pressed by lawmakers, saying he respects “every single female service member that has put on the uniform,” and insisted requirements have been lowered for women although he supplied no proof.