Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave an impassioned defense of women in combat on Tuesday following Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, arguing that the United States "should not have women in combat roles."
"I don't know the potential nominee, so I can't comment on and won't comment on anything that he said," Austin, who was asked about the comments made by Hegseth on women in combat roles, said while in Laos to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' Defense Ministers Meeting. "I don't know what his experiences are, but I can tell you about my experiences with women in the military and women in combat, and they're pretty good."
Austin's comments are the strongest statement from the military since Hegseth, an Army veteran who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was tapped by Trump to lead the DOD.
The Fox News host has said his concerns are with women specifically in ground combat positions, not with pilots or those in other military roles, because he claims they have led to the military's physical standards being lowered and changed capabilities of combat units.
"I'm OK with the idea that you maintain the standards where they are for everybody. And if there's some ... hard-charging female that meets that standard, great, cool, join the infantry battalion," Hegseth said during a podcast appearance days before his nomination. "But that is not what's happened. What has happened is the standards have lowered."
Speaking on his experience in his tours, Austin said, "Every place I went, there were women doing incredible things, and they were adding value to to the overall effort, whether they were pilots, whether they were operational experts, whether they were intel experts. You know, I see things differently and I see that because of my experience, and that experience is extensive. And so, I think our women add significant value to the United States military, and we should never change that."
"And if I had a message ... to our women, I would say I would tell them that you know we need you. We have faith in you. We are appreciative of your service, and you add value to the finest and most lethal fighting force on earth," he said.
Of the active-duty military personnel, 17.5% are women, and women make up 21.6% of the selected reserve, according to the Pentagon's latest statistics.
"I love women service members, who contribute amazingly," Hegseth said during the podcast appearance earlier this month. But three minutes later, he added, "I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated."
Hegseth's selection has drawn controversy as some service members express concerns about their futures in the military. Women began being able to be in ground combat units in 2013 after then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta rescinded a ban on women in these roles. Over 2,500 women serve in previously closed ground combat jobs, ABC News previously reported.
Panetta has come out in opposition to Hegseth's position on women in combat roles.
"Those kinds of comments come from a past era, and I think it's important for him to take the time to really look at how our military is performing in an outstanding fashion," Panetta told ABC News. "We've got the best military in the world, and the reason is because we have the best fighting men and women in the world who are part of it."