Overview
- Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the policy in a video on Wednesday, saying tests will be annual for service members aged 30 or older and optional for those under 30.
- The Pentagon has not published critical details such as normal hormone ranges, how tests will be repeated or confirmed, whether women will be included, or whether low results will affect assignments.
- Major medical groups say routine screening of asymptomatic people is not standard practice because diagnosis requires compatible symptoms plus confirmatory morning blood tests.
- Officials say testosterone-replacement therapy would be voluntary for those diagnosed, and the move follows recent White House and FDA actions that have eased some limits on access to testosterone treatments.
- The policy builds on past concern about hormone use in elite units after a 2022 trainee death, and it could increase prescriptions, raise privacy and equity questions for service members, and prompt scrutiny of how results affect careers.