US defense secretary Pete Hegseth (Pic credit: AP)US defense secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday announced new directives for the military, including implementing gender-neutral physical fitness standards and eliminating what he described as "woke" culture from the armed forces. Standards must be uniform, gender neutral and high,” Hegseth said.Women were first allowed in direct combat roles during the Obama administration.While Hegseth did not announce a full rollback of women in combat, he made it clear that the “highest male standards” would now apply to all combat roles. But when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender-neutral,” he said. ”Under the new rules, all combat personnel, including generals and admirals, will be required to pass two yearly physical tests. Hegseth emphasized that the standards are “gender neutral” but will be based on the “highest male standard” for physical fitness in combat roles.