US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that the Department of Defense will begin annual testosterone screening for all service members aged 30 and above, including the 231,000 women on active duty, in an initiative he described on social media as “The High-T Department of War,” which is also, he noted, his preferred name for the Defense Department.
“As we know, the modern battlefield is brutal and unrelenting,” Hegseth said in a video posted to X, recorded from his Pentagon office, in which he used the word “lethality” three times in ninety seconds. “It requires and demands maximum psychological and mental readiness, and by addressing these health markers early, we're keeping you on the leading edge of lethality.”
The screening will be mandatory for troops over 30 and voluntary for those under 30, who may not yet have heard of testosterone. Troops found to have low levels will be offered testosterone replacement therapy, or TRT, which Hegseth described as “restoring and optimizing your natural capability,” a phrase that also appears on the label of at least seven direct-to-consumer supplements sold by podcast sponsors.
The announcement did not address the more than 231,000 women serving in the US military, who also produce testosterone, at levels 10 to 20 times lower than men, and for whom there is no FDA-approved testosterone therapy. When asked at the press conference whether women would be screened, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed they would, adding: “The Secretary believes all warfighters should be at their best. He has not yet been asked follow-up questions and would prefer to keep it that way.”
The American Urological Association issued a statement saying it “appreciates the Administration's understanding of the importance of screening” but cautioned that a diagnosis of low testosterone should not be based on a single blood test, a nuance the Pentagon's announcement did not include, because the announcement was ninety seconds long and did not feature a doctor.
Hegseth's focus on testosterone comes at a time when the US military is conducting strikes on Iran, a fact that has not escaped the notice of defence analysts, several of whom noted that previous secretaries have typically focused on questions such as alliances, weapons procurement, and not getting into wars, rather than hormone levels. A Pentagon spokesperson said the Secretary “is capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time,” then clarified that this was “a figure of speech, not a new physical fitness standard, although that is also under review.”
The announcement has drawn comparisons to the administration's ban on transgender troops, partially rooted in the Pentagon's insistence that transgender service members might not be able to access hormone therapy in a war zone. When asked why providing hormone therapy to cisgender troops would not present the same logistical challenge, the Pentagon referred the question to the legal department, which referred it to the medical department, which referred it to a voicemail box that has not been checked since March.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, 72, who has spoken publicly about injecting testosterone as part of his personal anti-ageing regimen, has called declining testosterone an “existential threat to humanity,” a phrase he also uses to describe fluoride, WiFi, and the hepatitis B vaccine. Kennedy warned in October that today's American teenagers have “50% of the testosterone of a 65-year-old man,” without providing evidence, which is consistent with his general approach to evidence.
The initiative is part of what Hegseth has described as a broader effort to maintain the “individual warfighter” as America's “most decisive tactical advantage,” a statement that raises the question of what the other tactical advantages are, if the individual warfighter's hormone panel is the decisive one. The Pentagon has not released details on what constitutes “right testosterone levels,” whether there is a chart, and whether the chart has been reviewed by anyone with a medical degree. A spokesperson said the chart “exists and is very good” and would not be taking questions.
The Pentagon also confirmed that Hegseth's earlier ban on beards, announced with the phrase “No more beardos,” remains in effect, creating a policy environment in which a soldier cannot grow a beard but can receive injectable hormones from the same government that previously told him his testosterone was a personal matter. A spokesman said the two policies were “not contradictory but complementary,” a sentence that took him three attempts to deliver with a straight face.
At time of writing, the US military has not indicated what happens to a service member whose testosterone is found to be above the “right” level, whether there is an upper limit, and whether being too testosterone is now a disqualifying condition. A Pentagon spokesperson said the Secretary “has not identified a scenario in which a warfighter can have too much of a good thing,” then paused, then said he would “get back to us on that.”