Hegseth touts push to replace heavyset National Guard troops in Illinois

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is touting an effort by the Texas Military Department to remove an unknown number of the state’s National Guard troops deployed to Chicago after a photo of seemingly overweight service members arriving in Illinois went viral.

“Standards are back at The [Department of War],” Hegseth posted to social media Monday alongside a story from Task & Purpose, which had reported on the troops’ replacement a day prior. 

Texas National Guard troops began arriving in Illinois last week after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) sent an initial 200 service members to the state — an effort temporarily blocked by an appeals court. But it was a set of viral photos, taken by ABC News and showing the troops arriving south of Chicago, that quickly got the public’s attention.

The photos showed several heavyset Guardsmen in military fatigues carrying rifles and duffle bags, drawing online derision for their overweight appearance.

Many people pointed to Hegseth’s comments about fitness standards, made to the U.S. military’s top officers last month, in which he said he no longer wanted to see “fat troops” and “fat generals and admirals.”

Seemingly in response to the photos, the National Guard Bureau released a statement Thursday declaring that all National Guard soldiers and airmen “are required to meet service-specific height, weight and physical fitness standards at all times.” 

“When mobilizing for active duty, members go through a validation process to ensure they meet those requirements,” according to the statement. “On the rare occasions when members are found not in compliance, they will not go on mission. They will be returned to their home station, and replacements who do meet standards will take their places.”

Following that, a spokesperson for the Texas Military Department told Task & Purpose that “a small group” of the 200 National Guard members in Illinois have been replaced after they were found to not meet certain standards. 

“In less than 24 hours, Texas National Guardsmen mobilized for the Federal Protection Mission,” the spokesperson told the outlet. “The speed of the response necessitated a concurrent validation process, during which we identified a small group of service members who were not in compliance and have been replaced.”

The Texas Military Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Hegseth has frequently emphasized the need for military personnel to stick to strict fitness standards. Last month he declared every service member at every rank is required to take a physical fitness test and meet height and weight requirements twice a year.

“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” he said at the time. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon leading commands around the country and the world.”