Soldiers will have to take a “neutral” physical test, said the US military

Women in the American army combat roles will have to succeed in the same “neutral” physical test as male soldiers, which the military branch announced on Monday, weeks after the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, ordered the elimination of lower physical fitness standards for combat women. The change could hamper the army’s ability to recruit and retain women in particularly dangerous military jobs.

The new test, The Army Fitness Test, will replace the army combat fitness test and “is designed to improve the physical form of soldiers, improve fighting for fighting and increase the lethality of the force,” the army wrote in its ad. The new score standards will be progressive in early June 1, the army said.

Like its precursor, the new test will be administered to soldiers in active service twice a year, and once a year to the troops of the National Guard and the Reserve. If the soldiers fail the test twice in a row, they can be withdrawn from the army.

The new fitness test is very similar to the previous one. It consists of five events: dead elevators, pumps, boards, a two -thousand race and a training session where the soldiers sprint, then drag a weighted sled and transport kettlebells.

The new army fitness test eliminates the standing power jet, an event sometimes called the yeet ball, which is largely hated by the members of the service; He forces soldiers to throw a medicine ball of 10 pounds back on their heads. The greatest global change will appear in the way in which the test is noted for 21 close combat professions which will be likely to be involved in intense fighting in wartime: women in these categories will be noted on the “male” scale, which should considerably reduce the number of them that meet the requirements.

For example, to pass the dead facelift event, women aged 17 to 21 will have to raise at least 140 pounds, instead of the 120 required according to the old standards. They will also have to travel two miles in 22 minutes, instead of 23 minutes and 22 seconds.