Hegseth announces annual testosterone screenings for service members
Hegseth said the program is meant to improve combat readiness, and troops with low levels may choose testosterone replacement therapy.
- On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the Pentagon will require annual testosterone deficiency screenings for active-duty service members age 30 and older, integrating the test into existing periodic health assessments troops already complete each year.
- Research showing declines in men's testosterone levels since the 1990s prompted Congress to include a measure in the fiscal year 2025 national defense bill requesting briefings on treatments and protocols, while special operations veterans identified low testosterone as a critical health issue.
- Hegseth characterized the initiative as voluntary medical care, stating 'If treatment is recommended, it's entirely your choice to receive testosterone replacement therapy,' and emphasized the program aims at 'restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities' rather than artificial enhancement.
- Implementation details remain pending as the Pentagon determines rollout timing across military branches, though service members under 30 will have the option to undergo voluntary screening despite facing no mandatory requirement.
- The testosterone initiative caps a series of body-focused reforms Hegseth has implemented since taking office, including mandatory daily physical training and his September ban on beard exemptions; during a June Navy visit, he pressed enforcement affecting sailors with razor bumps, a condition affecting an estimated 60 percent of Black men.
146 Articles
146 Articles
Since he was Donald Trump's defence minister, Pete Hegseth has imposed more demanding physical standards on the military, modelled on male standards.
The goal of the program is to make sure that the soldiers have the testosterone level at the right level, explained in the Pentagon.
American soldiers aged 30 and over must have their testosterone levels checked annually, says the Minister of Defense.
Troops over 30 must have testosterone levels checked annually to ensure ‘leading edge of lethality,’ Hegseth says
US troops 30 or older must check their testosterone levels annually to ensure military readiness and keep them on "the leading edge of lethality," Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday.
From the age of 30, U.S. soldiers will undergo an annual test to measure their blood testosterone levels," said US Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, in a video broadcast on social network X. ...
Is the U.S. obsessed with the testosterone of its citizens? Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has once claimed that this substance is injected as part of his “anti-aging regime” and in October he reversed, without proof, that today’s teenagers in the country have “50% of the levels of a 65-year-old man.” Now, Defense Officer Pete Hegseht has announced that they will control the deficiency of this hormone in military personnel over 30 yea…
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