The Pentagon will begin annually screening service members for testosterone deficiency, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday, citing the need to ensure troops maintain the “biological foundation” to fight.
Under the new program, the secretary said service members aged 30 and older will be tested yearly for testosterone deficiency as part of routine health assessments. Troops under 30, meanwhile, will have the option to be tested, he said.
The decision to receive testosterone replacement therapy — if recommended by a medical professional — will remain up to the individual service member.
“It’s about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight,” Hegseth said in a video posted to X.
The video did not specify if the testing and treatment would be gender-specific and appeared to connect the directive to mental wellness.
“As we know, the modern battlefield is brutal and unrelenting,” he said. “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 and giving you the same level of support that you give this nation — the absolute best.”
The requirement marks the latest policy shift under Hegseth, whose tenure at the Pentagon has included a ban on transgender troops.
“Expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for Military Service,” a 2025 memo signed by the defense secretary reads.
Hegseth also directed the military to develop gender-neutral physical fitness standards for troops in ground-combat roles.
“At my direction, each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS [military occupational specialty], for every designated combat arms position, returns to the highest male standard only,” he said in an address in Virginia last year.
Military Times asked the Pentagon whether DoD will also give female service members annual hormone screenings and access to testosterone replacement therapy to raise levels to those of a typical male service member, if desired.
The Pentagon declined to provide additional details beyond Hegseth’s announcement.
Eve Sampson is a reporter and former Army officer. She has covered conflict across the world, writing for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Associated Press.