The US military is about to start screening its soldiers for low testosterone – a programme Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has branded the 'High-T Department'.
In a video posted on X, Hegseth said he was authorising hormone testing for all personnel aged 30 and older as part of their annual health assessments. 'You have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best,' he said, adding that troops with a deficiency would be offered voluntary hormone replacement therapy.
“US troops aged 30+ will be screened for low testosterone under a new 'High-T' programme announced by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.”
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the plan: 'All Active Duty and Reserve Component personnel aged 30 and older will undergo mandatory screening for testosterone deficiency during their Periodic Health Assessment.' Those under 30 can request the test voluntarily.
Hegseth insisted the programme was about 'restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity', not 'artificial enhancement'. The military already bans taking testosterone for non-medical reasons, such as muscle building without a prescription.
'We owe our warriors the absolute best medical care in the world, and this programme delivers on that obligation,' Hegseth said in the video. Parnell added that the protocol would 'sustain a healthy, capable, and decisively dominant fighting force'.
The move has drawn immediate criticism. Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran and member of the armed services committee, called on Hegseth to make hormone testing available for both men and women. Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Air Force veteran, dismissed it on X as Hegseth's 'latest culture-war obsession'.
On social media, the plan was mocked for its resemblance to gender-affirming care – a comparison that stung given Hegseth's well-known anti-trans views. 'This sounds weirdly gender affirming,' one person wrote. Another shared a video of Hegseth struggling to lift weights.
Online commentators have dubbed the initiative 'warmaxxing', a twist on the internet slang 'looksmaxxing'. The Pentagon declined to say whether female troops would be tested or offered oestrogen-based therapy for perimenopause.
Since taking office, Hegseth has renamed the agency the 'Department of War' and placed a major focus on Christian nationalism. Earlier this year, he told reporters the entire world 'should be saying thank you' to Donald Trump for the war in Iran. At the start of that conflict, some American soldiers were told by their commanders that the war was 'God's plan' to bring about Armageddon, according to complaints obtained by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
For now, the 'High-T' screening rolls out – a programme Hegseth promises will keep the army 'on the leading edge of lethality'. Whether it will address the deeper questions of military readiness – or simply become another political flashpoint – remains to be seen.