Veterans around the state are having mixed reactions to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s promise to impose stricter national military standards, including gender-neutral fitness guidelines that could force women out of combat.

Hegseth told admirals and generals in Quantico on Sept. 30 that he’ll impose the highest male standard for all combat roles and change the culture to be more aggressive.

“You kill people and break things for a living,” Hegseth said last week. “You are not politically correct and don’t necessarily belong always in polite society.”

It’s unclear how that could impact veterans and former service members across New York.

The Defense Secretary said service members need to be ready for lethal war fighting with promotions based on merit — not diversity.

“Do unto your unit as you would have done unto your own child’s unit,” the secretary told the nation’s military leaders. “Would you want him serving with fat or unfit or undertrained troops?

The remarks angered Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter — the only female veteran in the state Legislature.

“This is not the military I served in,” said Hunter, a U.S. Army veteran. “And this is not the military that I know all of the people that I serve with, this is not recognizable. The way that he was portraying was not recognizable to me…That’s not what we need to be doing when we’re talking to veterans and saying ‘Thank you for your service.'”

Hunter said the military already has strict physical standards with merit-based promotions. She’s worried about Hegseth’s plans to overhaul the military complaint system and his statements that minor issues shouldn’t ruin a soldier’s career.

“What kind of blemishes are we talking?” the assemblywoman said. “Are you talking about a barroom scrape? Are you talking about military sexual assault? What is this blemish that’s just going to be expunged from someone’s records?”

Other retired female combat veterans agree.

Retired Sgt. First Class Elana Duffy left the Army in 2012, but said she’d resign if she was enlisted today and heard the secretary’s speech.

“Women already feel as if their service is not recognized, or is not recognized the same way,” Duffy told Spectrum News 1. “A lot of women won’t even self-identify as a veteran. And that is only going to get worse, especially when you’re talking about sexual harassment and sexual assault. Reporting is going to be limited, at best.”

But Assemblyman Robert Smullen, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 24 years, argues Hegseth’s reforms are what the nation’s military needs to be strong against threats like China, Iran and North Korea.

“It’s not based on gender, it’s not based on race, it’s simply based on the capability to do what’s required for that job,” he said Wednesday. “The Department of War exists to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Smullen, who did three tours in Afghanistan and worked at the Pentagon, said the nation’s military strategy must be focused on success — not social engineering.

“What do they do to be sure that the United States is going to win that conflict?” asked Smullen, a Republican from Johnstown. “[This] is about making sure that the Department of War is able to fight and win our nation’s battles. That’s what’s most important.”

But New Yorker Michael Matos, who reached the rank of Maritime Enforcement specialist Second Class, or ME2 over 10 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, said the new standards represent a shift in the national military that most members didn’t sign up for.

“I joined the service to help people,” Matos said. “I joined the service to protect my community, to learn how to protect our nation of both abroad and domestic. I didn’t join to be an aggressive warfighter that is constantly looking for new conflict. I don’t think the majority of our military members did the same thing.”

President Donald Trump has increased funding for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs while threatening to cut other programs that service members rely on.

State Department of Veterans’ Services Commissioner Viviana DeCohen was unavailable to be interviewed, but said in a statement that as a proud U.S. Marine, she understands the importance of ensuring support for every New York veteran, service member and their families, but the state cannot backfill for significant reductions in federal spending.

“The Trump administration’s proposed painful federal budget cuts present serious challenges, and while it is impossible for any state to backfill the extensive loss of federal support, New York will not turn its back on those who served,” DeCohen said in a statement Wednesday. “Under Gov. Kathy Hochul’s leadership, our New York state Department of Veterans’ Services has expanded outreach and support for veterans and military families, and we will continue adapting and innovating to ensure every New Yorker who serves our country receives the benefits and respect they have earned — regardless of any federal roadblocks, partisan politics or misplaced federal priorities.”