Your bag is empty.
In a promotional clip posted on numerous social media platforms, Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared on Wednesday evening that the United States Military shall henceforth become “High-T” again. In the online video, Hegseth, staring straight into the camera and flanked by the American Flag, announced mandatory testosterone level screenings for all armed service members over the age of 30, including women.
“Our most decisive tactical advantage will always be the individual warfighter” Hegseth said to the camera. “Which is why we must always look for ways to optimize your performance, your resilience, and your long term health.”
The DOD secretary also announced that the screenings for testosterone would be available for service members under 30 years old as well, and that any recommended supplemental testosterone replacement therapy would be completely optional for all service members.
Though there are legitimate medical applications for testosterone replacement therapy, the timing of this announcement, with open conflict between Iran and the United States resuming just days prior, is extremely unconventional. According to former and current service members, it illustrates Hegseth’s seemingly limited view of the strategic and logistic requirements of the US military’s war fighting capabilities. In other words, he seems to believe that the only requirement for winning a war are huge muscled out guys with guns.
James Hatch, a former NAVY Seal who spent 13 years with Seal Team Six, told Playboy that he thinks the announcement is a distraction from the Trump administration’s war with Iran. “ Instead of asking, ‘What are we doing with the military with this war?’ Hegseth is saying ‘hey, let’s talk about testosterone, we need tough guys, we need the elite, and all that lip service bullshit.’”
While DoD secretaries are often focused on much larger strategic initiatives, Hegseth has repeatedly shown his willingness to regulate the nitty-gritty details of rank and file military life. Since taking over the DoD Hegseth has banned transgender troops, moved to ban beards for service members with skin conditions or religious exemptions, and also called a massive and exceedingly rare meeting of generals to announce revitalized fitness standards and call out “fat generals and admirals.” He’s also extensively posted fitness content across his social media platforms, including content with DHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., promoting what they call “The Pete and Bobby Fitness Challenge.” In interviews and during speeches, Hegseth has said that these cultural shifts will restore the military’s “warrior ethos.”
“ He doesn’t have the knowledge or the experience to really know what he’s doing, so he’s reverting to basic shit that can be handled at lower levels.” One enlisted service member told Playboy of Hegseth’s culture war.
Other former service members, like Adrian Bonenberger, a former US Army officer and Ranger who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, say these moves illustrate Hegseth’s deep desire to reshape the aesthetics of America’s military into a cartoonish caricature of the hyper-masculine.
“ I think it’s fine to have warrior ethos in the infantry, if the infantry is going to be limited to fighting other infantries” says Bonenberger “But it’s totally misplaced for 80% of the military. You wouldn’t want it in an Air Force pilot, You wouldn’t want it in a logistician, you definitely don’t want that in an intel analyst.“
The implementation of testosterone screenings comes after Hegseth’s Pentagon banned the enlistment of transgender service members, which the Pentagon argued was partially motivated by a fear that transgender troops would not be able to access hormonal therapy in a war zone. Now, similar hormonal therapy will be potentially offered to every single service member, a move which critics on the left have characterized as comparable to gender affirming care. The announced screenings also extend to female service members, who have significantly lower levels of testosterone on average, and for whom there is no FDA approved therapeutic testosterone treatment currently on the market.
Still, there have been real concerns about the hormonal health of service members in recent years. Clinically low testosterone has been linked to a litany of health issues including diabetes, osteoporosis, and depression, while stress, sleeplessness, poor diet and repeated blows to the head have been shown to impact levels of testosterone (all common occurrences in military services). More recently, studies have identified that the stress of serving long rotations among special operations can cause hormonal crashes that include testosterone, a phenomenon called “operator syndrome.” Studies done by the NIH in 2019 have suggested that hormonal therapy may be a way to mediate these issues.
“ If the intent of this initiative is to just have people be at the testosterone level they should be, and not like an enhancement then I don’t see a negative.” One service member told Playboy.
Others have described the move as a bandaid, Hatch is quick to point out that nearly 70% of the military is either overweight or obese, according to a 2023 study, a key contributor to low testosterone. Something he thinks would be better addressed through more robust nutrition programs than testosterone replacement therapy.
The administration of this kind of hormone to rank and file service members presents logistical and tactical difficulties, and could even be a liability in an extended military engagement, which can sometimes last for weeks or months without aid. The use of exogenous hormones like testosterone causes your body’s natural production to shut down, and withdrawal from TRT has been shown to cause mood destabilizing effects, lethargy, and even suicidality.
”Hormones run your fucking world.” Hatch says. “ if you’re serious about going to war, you’re not gonna take things … that if you don’t have when you’re in battle you’re screwed.”
Having to administer these hormonal therapies, typically via a weekly injection or through a topical cream, could potentially represent a logistical challenge for soldiers in life or death situations. A potential roadblock that the Pentagon itself recognized during the rollout of its transgender service ban.
“The Armed Forces must adhere to high mental and physical health standards to ensure our military can deploy, fight, and win, including in austere conditions and without the benefit of routine medical treatment or special provisions,” the Trump administration’s January 2025 ban reads.
“ There’s definitely some hypocrisy in it.” one US Army officer told me when asked about the comparison between the transgender service ban and this latest announcement. “ Pete Hegseth and his whole alpha male thing is super dumb.”