Hegseth rages as Army makes U-turn on standards to screen out ‘stupid’ cadets: report

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsHegseth rages as Army makes U-turn on standards to screen out ‘stupid’ cadets: reportThe Army currently does not require Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets to provide standardized test scores before admissionGraig Graziosi in Washington, D.C. Thursday 20 August 2026 23:02 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b3036702","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/hegseth-army-standards-stupid-cadets-b3036702.html","title":"Hegseth rages as Army makes U-turn on standards to screen out ‘stupid’ cadets"}}CloseRelated video: John Oliver blasts Pete Hegseth over conditions on the USS Abraham LincolnSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"pianoFieldName":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashington","regSourceSection":"US polit...