When I wore Uncle Sam’s colors back in the closing years of the Cold War, we took a lot of pride in being STRAC – “Strategic, Tough, Ready Around the Clock.” Not only physical fitness but appearance factored into that; we took pride in looking sharp, in looking soldierly. We eschewed standard-issue boots for Corcoran jump boots that took a better shine. We pressed our uniforms, we blocked our caps, and we shined our brass; we were honed like razors, and we took great pride in it.
In recent years, some of the military people we’ve seen in airports and so on have not only looked non-STRAC, but some of them looked a little saggy around the midsection. But there’s a new boss at the Pentagon, and he looks to be bringing STRAC back.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday ordered a Pentagon-wide review of the physical fitness, body composition and grooming standards currently in place in the armed forces.
Hegseth’s directive comes after the Biden administration loosened restrictions on various grooming and hairstyle rules for military service members, as well as body fat percentage requirements for new recruits.
“High standards are what made the United States military the greatest fighting force on the planet,” Hegseth wrote in a memo to senior Pentagon leaders, commanders of the combatant commands and Department of Defense field activity directors.
“The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose,” the defense secretary added. “We are made stronger and more disciplined with high, uncompromising, and clear standards.”
This is a step back from some pretty egregiously stupid Biden-era policies.
Under the Biden administration, the Army relaxed various grooming standards – including allowing women to wear earrings and have hair highlights and dyes, and allowing men to wear nail polish – in an effort to be “more diverse” and “inclusive.”
The Air Force, also during former President Joe Biden’s tenure, permitted new male recruits to have up to 26% body fat, up from the previous requirement of 20%, while females were allowed 36% body fat, up from the previous max of 28%.
Nail polish on… men? Seriously? Would these… men… be worried about chipping their nail polish while, say, manning a machine gun, or humping artillery rounds? It’s time for that kind of stupidity to stop, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has shouted “Halt!”
See Related: Pete Hegseth Drives the Stake Through Climate Change Driving Defense Policy
Hegseth: There’s No Purge List, but Officers Who Don’t Follow Trump’s Orders ‘Will Find the Door’
Our military forces can’t waste time being worried about being “more diverse” and “inclusive.” Indeed, the military must be exclusive. Our armed forces must exclude those who can’t meet standards, most especially physical standards, but also, frankly, appearance standards. While it’s hard to worry about appearance in the field, most armed service members spend more time in the garrison than in the field, and appearance does matter. It speaks to attention to detail, to not only meeting but exceeding standards, and most of all, to pride.
The purpose of the military is like no other institution, in or out of government. They are not a jobs program. They cannot worry about “diversity.” They are all about readiness – being ready, at any moment, to go forth, to find our country’s enemies, and to close with and destroy the enemy by fire, maneuver, and shock effect. They must be warfighters. Anything that advances that goal is good. Anything that runs counter to that goal is bad. It’s good that Pete Hegseth understands that because his predecessor sure didn’t.
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