Under the Pentagon’s new transgender policy announced on Thursday, male soldiers who “legally transition” to female will only have to pass the fitness standards for female soldiers, which are far less physically demanding.
“Gender transition in the military begins when a Service member receives a diagnosis from a military medical provider indicating that gender transition is medically necessary, and concludes when the Service member’s gender marker is changed in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) and the Service member serves and is recognized in the preferred gender,” states a Department of Defense fact sheet on the policy change.
“At that point, the Service member is responsible for meeting all applicable military standards in the preferred gender and will use berthing, bathroom, and shower facilities associated with their gender.” Officials confirmed to the Associated Press that transgender service members will have to meet the fitness standards of their “preferred gender” once they have “legally transitioned” to their new identity.
A male service member who legally transitions to female, then, will only have to meet the fitness standards for female service members.
According to Military.com, male marines have to complete a minimum of three pull-ups in order to pass their bi-annual physical fitness test (PFT). Female marines, however, don’t have to do pull-ups. Instead, they get to do a timed “flexed-arm hang,” which looks like this:
Female marines have three more minutes to complete the three-mile run than similarly-aged male marines. Female marines have to complete the three mile run in 31 to 36 minutes, depending on their age.
Male marines who legally transition to female, then, will swap out pull-ups for the flexed-arm hang and have three extra minutes to complete the three-mile run.
According to Military.com, male soldiers ages 17-21 have to complete a minimum of 35 pushups in two minutes in order to pass Army basic training. A female soldier the same age, though, only has to complete 13 pushups in two minutes.
A male soldier between the ages of 22 and 26 has to complete 31 pushups in two minutes to meet the minimum basic training requirements. A female soldier the same age only has to complete 11 pushups — or one every 11 seconds.
Male and female soldiers have to complete the same number of sit-ups. In the two-mile run, however, female soldiers again face significantly lower standards.
To pass basic training, a male soldier between the ages of 22 and 26 can take no longer than 16 minutes and 36 seconds to run two miles. Female soldiers the same age have 19 minutes and 36 seconds to complete the run.
Follow Peter Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson