Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus told the Navy Times this week that once women start attending SEAL training, it would make sense to examine the standards. “First, we’re going to make sure there are standards. Second, that they are gender-neutral, and third, that they have something to do with the job,” he said.

It is increasingly men who are doing the talking about standards because, they say, they’ve trained in the schools, served in the field, and they believe it’s the right thing to do.

“Of course women don’t want to change the standard – they don’t want to be accused of lowering it,” says Col. Jason Amerine, a Ranger and West Point graduate. “And men don’t want to change it either, because it lets us thump our chest.”

As a result, “women will always fight to meet the male standard, even if it’s arbitrary and kind of stupid,” he adds. “I’m often pretty horrified at the adversity they face, while they keep their mouths shut and deal with it.”