By Heba Habib, AP and ReutersThursday July 16, 2026
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania [Saul Loeb/ AFP]
US troops aged 30 and older will undergo annual testosterone screening under a new programme announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth unveiled the measure in a video message on Wednesday, saying it would be incorporated into the periodic health assessment that service members already complete annually. The assessment is mandatory for troops aged 30 and over, while those under 30 may choose to participate. Hegseth said any follow-up care, including testosterone replacement therapy, would be left to the individual.
Hegseth presented the policy as part of a wider Pentagon drive to safeguard what he has often described as the military’s most important advantage: the “individual warfighter”.
“This initiative, it’s not about artificial enhancement,” Hegseth said in a video posted on X. “It’s about restoring and optimising your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity, ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight.”
The Pentagon has been examining the issue for some time. A provision in the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act required the defence secretary to brief Congress on treatments available to service members with low testosterone, along with existing testing and screening procedures.
Men’s testosterone levels naturally decrease with age, falling by about 1 percent annually after age 30 or 40, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The programme marks the latest step by Hegseth, an Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News co-host, to recast the armed forces around stricter physical requirements and what he calls a warrior ethos.
During a September address to hundreds of senior officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Hegseth said there would be “no more beardos” and no more “fat troops”, as he rolled out a series of fitness and appearance directives.
Democratic lawmakers criticised the testosterone screening plan, tying it to Hegseth’s opposition to transgender service members. Senator Tammy Duckworth said the policy sounded “like gender-affirming care to me,” while Representative Chrissy Houlahan said it “proves that Secretary Hegseth takes direction from the far corners of the manosphere“.
Both lawmakers said hormone screening should also be offered to women serving in uniform, pointing to higher infertility rates among military personnel.
