Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that the Department of Defense will begin offering testosterone deficiency screening to soldiers 30 and older, a new health policy that makes annual testing part of the routine for warfighters in that age group. Service members under 30 may opt in, and any treatment would be voluntary.
Hegseth said the program is meant to make sure service members have the right testosterone levels to operate at their absolute best. In his announcement, he framed the effort around readiness and said the military should give troops the same support they give the country.
The move lands as testosterone has become a fixation in right-wing politics and male self-improvement culture. In October, Robert F Kennedy Jr warned, without evidence, that today’s American teenagers have “50% of the testosterone of a 65-year-old man,” while other commentators and influencers have cast low testosterone as a broader crisis and promoted injections as a fix.
That backdrop helps explain why Hegseth is treating the issue as a military health question now. The Department of Defense is setting an age line at 30 and above, and for those warfighters the screening will be annual, folded into health assessments rather than treated as a one-off check.
But the medical standard is not as simple as the announcement sounds. The American Urological Association said testosterone deficiency should not be diagnosed from a single blood test alone. It said a test can serve as a baseline value for people who need more evaluation, and that a diagnosis should rest on symptoms and two separate tests. The group also said it appreciates the administration’s understanding of the importance of screening men for testosterone deficiency.
Hegseth did not address the more than 231,000 women who serve as active duty service members in the US military, leaving the new program framed entirely around men and “warriors.” He also did not spell out what symptoms would trigger follow-up, what level would count as low, or how the Department of Defense will administer the screenings once they begin.
What happens next is the rollout itself. The department has announced the screening program, but not when it starts or what medical rules will govern the follow-up after the first tests are done.
