Texas National Guard Troops Pulled From Duty in Illinois for Failing to Meet ‘Fitness Standards’

A select number of Texas National Guard troops have reportedly been pulled from duty in Illinois for failing to meet the Defense Department’s new “physical fitness standards.”

A spokesperson for the Texas Military Department confirmed the troops’ replacement on Sunday, saying the speed at which Texas mobilized its troops for deployment to Chicago “necessitated a concurrent validation process, during which we identified a small group of service members who were not in compliance and have been replaced.”

“National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are required to meet service-specific height, weight and physical fitness standards at all times,” the National Guard Bureau said in a statement. “When mobilizing for active duty, members go through a validation process to ensure they meet requirements. 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.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth cheered the move in a post on X Monday, sharing a screenshot of an article in military publication Task & Purpose, which first reported the story.

“Standards are back at the @DeptofWar,” he wrote.

The Department of Defense did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment.

The move came just days after a viral photo of the troops arriving in Illinois sparked comments about the men’s weight. An ABC News story on the troops — which featured the photo in question — received more than 26 million views on X, and the photograph saw another 3,000 upvotes on Reddit.

The troops’ withdrawal also came days after Hegseth corralled high-ranking generals from across the world in Virginia to announce his new “standards” for military members. In addition to targeting physical fitness, Hegseth said new guidelines would prohibit facial hair and require women to meet male combat standards.

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

“No more beardos,” he continued. “The era of unacceptable appearance is over.”

The Texas Military Department, which did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment, did not confirm to Task & Purpose how many National Guard members were pulled from duty in Illinois.

Texas National Guard troops remain in Illinois despite a federal ruling on Thursday temporarily blocking the troops from being mobilized in the state for 14 days. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge April Perry said that the Trump administration’s claims of rampant crime and chaos in Chicago were wildly overblown.

“DHS’ perception of events are simply unreliable,” Kelly said.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misspelled U.S. District Judge April Perry’s name.