Trump administration officials warn that decades of falling testosterone among American men now threaten military readiness, prompting new Pentagon screening for troops 30 and older.

The Pentagon in September issued testosterone deficiency screening guidelines for male service members ages 30 and older, tying men’s hormone health directly to combat readiness.

Senior health officials say average male testosterone has roughly halved since the mid-1970s, while most young Americans already fail to qualify for service, shrinking the pool of troops who can fight and win.

Fox News Digital reported the push after interviews with Adm. Brian Christine, a senior Department of Health and Human Services official and longtime men’s health urologist, and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya.

Christine helped shape the initiative that produced the Pentagon guidance. He framed low testosterone as more than a private medical issue.

He told the outlet there are “absolutely national defense readiness ramifications for [low testosterone],” calling the focus “incredibly important, incredibly timely.”

"There is absolutely national defense readiness ramifications for [low testosterone]."

Christine said the average testosterone level for men in this country in the mid-1970s “was well over 650,” and “now it’s approaching 350.”

"In the mid-1970s, the average testosterone level for men in this country... was well over 650. Now it's approaching 350."

He tied those numbers to broader outcomes: overall well-being, lifespan, health span, and wellness. For men in uniform, he said, the point is simple, keep them able to function and do the job.

Screening starts with symptoms, not forced treatment

The guidelines do not order blanket hormone shots. Screening begins with an assessment of symptoms and risk factors. Further testing and potential treatment follow only when medically appropriate.

Christine was direct about the limits.

"We're not forcing testosterone on anybody."

“But what we are doing is screening, taking those men who are symptomatic and have low numbers and offering them a pathway forward,” he said.

The Defense Health Agency has said separate hormonal health guidance for female service members will follow the September rules for male troops, with women’s health specialists helping shape those recommendations.

Recruitment math already looks grim

Officials place the hormone trend against a brutal eligibility picture. Seventy-seven percent of Americans ages 17 to 24 do not qualify for service without a waiver. Obesity, chronic disease, and other barriers drive much of that gap. Among young men, more than 70% are ineligible. Only about 3% of young Americans express interest in serving.

That combination, falling hormone levels across decades, plus a generation largely locked out of the force, leaves less margin for a military that must stay lethal.

President Donald Trump entered his second term with a clear readiness agenda: tighten fitness standards, remove DEI policies, overhaul weapons acquisition, rebuild recruitment, and refocus the force on combat performance.

The testosterone screening fits that pattern. It treats male service members’ physical capacity as a readiness input, not a side topic.

NIH director says the decline is real, and unexplained

Bhattacharya, in a separate interview, said the population trend is clear even if the causes are not.

"It's interesting because if you look at the epidemiological trends, testosterone levels in the American male population have been declining over the last decades. And, again, we don't know why. We don't have an answer."

He pointed to under-diagnosed testosterone deficiencies and put prevention and medical guidance high on the research list. He also flagged falling sperm counts and likely environmental factors as questions that still need hard answers.

“The question of what to do about it, how to prevent it, that’s at the top of my mind,” Bhattacharya said. “But even more importantly, what are the factors, probably environmental factors, that have led to the decline in sperm counts, for instance? We need an answer to those questions.”

The NIH is investing in research to pin down causes and improve clinical guidance. Christine, who has spent more than 35 years specializing in men’s health, has stressed the same gap: researchers are still investigating possible drivers, including environmental exposures, rather than declaring a settled cause.

Readiness now includes the health of the men who wear the uniform

Christine’s core claim is practical. If the country wants men in uniform at their best, leaders have to measure and treat the conditions that cut strength, recovery, and long-term health.

Mandatory screening for male troops 30 and older is the concrete step already in motion. Offer a path to men who are symptomatic and low, not ideology, not slogans, a medical pathway tied to the mission.

The same administration that is raising fitness bars and cutting distractions is also admitting a quieter national problem: American men are not as hormonally robust as they were two generations ago, and the force feels it first.

A military that ignores the physical decline of its own men will not stay ready for long, and neither will the country that depends on them.