FILE - Secretary of War Pete Hegseth attends a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Iraq Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office of the White House on July 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced testosterone deficiency screenings for service members.
Hegseth made the announcement via a video on his X account Wednesday.
What they're saying:
"We must constantly look for new ways to optimize your performance, your resilience, and your long term health. And to meet that commitment today, I’m authorizing a new screening program for testosterone deficiency for our service members," Hegseth said.
Hegseth added that the screenings will help ensure service members will have the "right testosterone levels to operate at their absolute best."
Dig deeper:
Service members who are ages 30 and older will be screened annually and anyone under 30 can get screened if they wish.
Should treatment be recommended following the test, service members will have the option to receive testosterone replacement therapy.
Past issues with testosterone, substance abuse
The backstory:
Over the past several years, special operations troops — and specifically Navy SEALs — have come under scrutiny for their use of testosterone and similar substances to enhance performance.
The death of a SEAL recruit during training in 2022 led to a discovery of substances in his possession, including testosterone, and revealed far more rampant drug use among the elite program than was previously acknowledged.
A year after the recruit’s death, the Navy said it would begin a drug-testing program to screen for "any hormonal substance, chemically or pharmacologically related to testosterone, that promotes muscle growth."
The Source: Information for this article was taken from a video posted to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s account on July 15, 2026 and reporting by The Associated Press. This story was reported from San Jose.