Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that the Pentagon will begin annually screening service members’ testosterone levels and offering testosterone replacement therapy to those who need it, part of a broader push to sharpen troops’ physical readiness.
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Hegseth unveiled the initiative in a video posted to X, describing it as a way to keep American forces at what he called “the leading edge of lethality.”
Under the new policy, testosterone testing will be folded into troops’ periodic health assessments and required for service members age 30 and older. Those younger than 30 may request the test voluntarily, Hegseth said.
“While we invest heavily in our weapon systems, platforms and gear, our most decisive tactical advantage will always be the individual warfighter,” Hegseth said. “We have a sacred duty to maintain that advantage, which is why we must constantly look for new ways to optimize your performance, your resilience and your long-term health.”
Hegseth said the program reflects “well-established science” that testosterone naturally declines with age, and that troops flagged for low levels will have the option, not the requirement, to pursue treatment.
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He pushed back on the idea that the effort amounts to performance enhancement. “This initiative, it’s not about artificial enhancement; it’s about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity, ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain and fight,” he said. “We owe our warriors the absolute best medical care in the world, and this program delivers on that obligation.”
Hegseth captioned the video “The High-T Department of War.”
The announcement fits the emphasis on masculinity and physical fitness that has returned under the Trump administration. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in January that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz had reviewed President Donald Trump’s medical records and found he had “the highest testosterone levels that he’s ever seen for an individual over 70.” In April, the FDA moved to widen access to testosterone replacement therapy after decades of limiting it largely to men with diagnosed medical conditions.
Hegseth has already imposed tougher fitness standards requiring all troops to meet what the Pentagon calls a “male standard.” He has frequently worked out alongside service members, and in a September address to senior military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, said he did not want to see overweight troops or, in his words, “fat generals and admirals.”
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