Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced that military personnel age 30 and older will be tested for testosterone deficiency as part of annual health exams.

In a video posted on

Troops with low testosterone levels will be offered voluntary hormone replacement therapy. The tests will be optional for those under 30 years of age.

Hegseth did not specify whether the test would apply to women, whose testosterone levels also decline as they age.

“We owe our warriors the best healthcare in the world, and this program fulfills that obligation,” Hegseth said in Wednesday’s video.

“Taking care of your long-term health means making sure you remain strong, resilient and capable, not just for your next deployment, but for the rest of your life, so you can thrive long after you take off your uniform,” he added.

Taking testosterone for non-medical reasons, such as artificial muscle gain without a prescription, is strictly prohibited in the military.

Hegseth said in the video that the new program was “not about artificial enhancements.”

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that mandatory testosterone deficiency testing would take effect immediately for all active-duty and reserve personnel age 30 and older.

“The protocol will allow the Department to establish a comprehensive foundation and offer targeted testosterone therapy, ensuring it maintains a healthy, capable and decisively dominant fighting force,” he said.

When asked whether both men and women would be tested, and whether women could be evaluated for estrogen-based therapy as they enter perimenopause, the Pentagon said it had no comment to add to Hegseth and Parnell’s statements.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Iraq War veteran and member of the Armed Services Committee, called on the Secretary of Defense to make hormone testing available to both men and women.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Air Force veteran, dismissed it in X as Hegseth’s “latest culture war obsession.”

Dr Mohit Khera, who led a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expert panel on testosterone screening and utilization in the military last year, told the BBC on Wednesday that all men over 30 should be screened because it is the main indicator of a person’s current and future overall health.

“The key here is that many young men have low levels of testosterone, which puts them at a disadvantage in terms of muscle mass and energy, and that could be a problem if you’re in combat,” said Khera, a professor of urology at Baylor College of Medicine.

But he added: “You have to be careful not to give someone testosterone unless they have some kind of symptoms.”

The benefits of hormone replacement therapy, he explained, are an increase in muscle mass, a decrease in fat deposition and a lower risk of depression. Over time, Khera added, it can also help with bone mineral density.

However, he warned that it is not for everyone.

“If young men take testosterone, it can make them infertile,” Khera said. “You have to be careful. If someone is of reproductive age, you have to make sure they understand that it will leave them infertile.”

It may also result in a theoretical increase in cardiovascular risk, he noted.

Hegseth’s announcement comes after US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and other administration officials sought to remove barriers for medical professionals to prescribe testosterone to men.

The health secretary has presented it as a solution to a national “fertility crisis”.

Last month, the FDA requested the removal of safety and efficacy language from the labeling of testosterone replacement therapy products and proposed relaxing prescription limits for testosterone products.