Raising Fitness and Basic Training Standards

Kingsley Wilson explains efforts to toughen basic training, reinstate fitness expectations, and ensure recruits are prepared.

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Episode notes

Woke is out at the Department of War, and higher fitness standards are back. Since being sworn in as secretary, Pete Hegseth has acted to “removed the distractions” from the department, including getting rid of “political correctness” and “DEI offices.”

“No more dudes in dresses,” Hegseth said during a recent speech, adding, “we are restoring a ruthless, dispassionate, and common-sense application of standards.”

Amid the Department of War's implementation of common-sense politics and higher fitness standards, more women have chosen to enlist in the U.S. military.

Over the summer, the Department of War, which was recently renamed from the Department of Defense, announced about 24,000 women were shipped off to basic training in fiscal year 2025, up from about 16,700 in 2024.

Women want to be held to high standards, and that includes in military fitness, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson says on this week’s edition of “Problematic Women.”

Wilson joins the show to pull back the curtain on life at the Pentagon under Hegseth’s leadership, and explain the departments aggressive strategy behind defeating narco-terrorists.

Also on this week's edition of “Problematic Women,” we discuss who “won” the government shutdown battle. Plus, is the culture shifting toward a celebration of the family, or is it only a trend among some celebrities?

00:00 Introduction

01:27 Pentagon's Anti-Drug Operations

11:36 Impact of the Shutdown on the Military

19:15 Changes at the Department of War

26:47 Women in the Military

28:47 Behind the Scenes with Secretary Hegseth

33:29 Is Hollywood Mainstreaming Parenthood?

41:59 Question of the Week and Conclusion

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