MAGA stands for “Make America Great Again.” Even if you’re not a Trumper, you must admit — it’s one of the most successful marketing strategies of all time. It got Donald Trump, a man with no previous government experience, elected president of the United States not once, but twice. And he won the second time despite having been impeached twice in his first term. 

But, of course, “Make America Great Again” raises the obvious question: When, in Donald Trump’s mind, was America great? Was it 1920? Or 1940? Or 1960?  

Well, at least for the U.S. military, we now know. Last week, in Quantico, Va., at an assembly of more than 800 top generals and admirals who were forced to fly in from across the globe, Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laid down the rule: The U.S. military — and, by extension, the rest of the country — must return to the glory days of 1990.

Among other new measures for the Pentagon, Hegseth announced he was introducing what he called “the 1990 test,” which compares current military standards to those in place in 1990 and replaces today’s standards with yesterday’s, if they were found to be more manly. The goal, Hegseth said, was to achieve the “highest male standard.”

Note his emphasis on the word “male.” In 1990, of course, women weren’t allowed in combat roles. It wasn’t until 1993, under President Bill Clinton, that women were permitted to fly combat missions; and not until 2013, under President Obama, that women could serve in ground combat. If going back to the “male” standard of 1990 means some women would be disqualified from military service, Hegseth sneered, that’s just too bad.

“If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it,” Hegseth told the assembled generals. He then added: “I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape or in combat units with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men.”

Hegseth’s snide dismissal of the role of women in the military is an insult to the approximately 279,500 women serving in uniform today; to the 2 million women veterans living today, according to the American Legion; to more than 3 million women who have served in the military since the Revolutionary War, as tallied by the United Service Organization; and to the nine female veterans serving in the 119th Congress. 

This invites the question: Does Hegseth know what he’s talking about? 

It has been long proven that women can do any job in the military and do it as well as any man. Today, female soldiers and sailors make up 21.5 percent of the armed forces. They were not given those jobs only because they were women. They were not diversity hires. They fought for those jobs, just like their male counterparts, and they earned them.  

Had Hegseth spent more time on Wikipedia and less time in the makeup room, he might have learned that women have been serving in the military, in one form or another, for more than 200 years — from the battlefields of the Revolutionary War to the desert sands of Iraq and Kuwait. In fact, reading Rick Atkinson’s magisterial history of the Revolutionary War, I have been struck by how many women accompanied colonial forces in their battle against the British, and what vital roles they played — both in support of the troops and, sometimes, in combat. 

Among others, Atkins tells the story of Margaret Corbin, who disguised herself as a man and joined her husband on the front lines in the battle of Fort Washington, where she helped him load his cannon. When he was shot, she took over the cannon, even after being shot three times herself. She was later buried at West Point with full military honors.

Women were serving in the military long before they had the right to vote. They played key roles in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam — first in support roles, then in combat. More than 300,000 women served in Iraq and Afghanistan. As of January 2025, 154 women have graduated from the U.S. Army Ranger School, one of the most grueling leadership courses in the military.

Indeed, the role of women in the military has grown so important that, as Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who lost both legs as an Army helicopter pilot in Iraq, told CBS News: “Our military could not do its job of protecting America and keeping us safe without the women who serve in the military.” Everybody knows that, it seems, expect Pete Hegseth. 

Bill Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”