Hell I saw to get more women in the Marines they do not even have to do a pullup, they can just hang from the bar for a few seconds.
I never served and maybe it is just me but I would want the person next to me, man or woman to have the strength to drag me out of harms way if I was injured. Maybe I am just crazy and inclusiveness is more important than fighting ability.
That was the old standard. Female Marines switched from the flexed arm hang to pull ups in 2017. However, they only have to do 1 to pass for age group 17-20. It goes up when they turn 21.
That being said, each MOS has their own occupational fitness standard as well, so a female Marine who only does 1 pull up cannot be in the Infantry. She would have to perform a minimum 6 dead hangs and run 3 miles in 24:30. Not to mention a bunch of other requirements, i.e. hiking 10 miles with combat load in a specific time, etc... The new swim requirement is going to be the one that kills most of the them. My son just went through his training and said a lot of females were reclassified when they failed the occupational fitness standard test, so if they cannot hang in combat arms, they are not letting them in. I cannot say what the other branches are doing.
Additionally, not a single female Marine has passed Infantry Squad Leader's Course yet. Sure, we had a couple pass Infantry Officer's Course after they were given multiple attempts (men only get one and get reclassified) for political reasons. However, we are treating the enlisted female Marines just like the males and not a single one has finished the first leadership school within the MOS. It is a smoke check for sure. Pretty much if you cannot run 3 miles in 20:00, do 23 dead hang pulls ups and hike 10 miles with 85 lbs of gear in 2.5 hours you are going to struggle. Attrition was not the mission, but you have to be able to lead from the front.
