After President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Pentagon Pete Hegseth said that women should not be in combat roles, current Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered his rebuttal on Wednesday.
While Austin said he could not speak specifically about Trump's nominee, he said concerning women in combat, "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 has led the Pentagon since Jan. 22, 2021, two days after President Joe Biden was sworn in. He was also commander of United States Central Command, vice chief of staff of the Army and director of the Joint Staff.
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"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 answer your question to our women, I would tell them that we need you, we have faith in you, we are appreciative of your service and you add value to finest and most lethal fighting force on earth."
On Nov. 7, in between Trump's election victory and the president-elect's announcement of Hegseth as his Defense secretary, Hegseth made comments on the Shawn Ryan Show Podcast that women do not belong in combat roles.
“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,” he said.
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Hegseth added that women should be allowed to serve in non-combat roles in the military.
Hegseth has served in the Army National Guard since 2003. He served with his unit at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, volunteered to serve in Iraq and was also deployed to Afghanistan. He currently holds the rank of Major.
