Pentagon Reasserts Enhancing Screening Protocol To Optimise Warfighter Performance And Enhance Force Readiness.

Pentagon, Washington DC; July 2026: The United States Secretary Of War Pete Hegseth today (Thursday – 16th July 2026) has directed an enhanced screening protocol for Service members to optimise performance, combat Operator Syndrome, and maximise mission readiness. Effective immediately (Today, 16th July 2026) all Active Duty and Reserve Component personnel aged 30 and older will undergo mandatory screening for testosterone deficiency during their Periodic Health Assessment. Service members under the age of 30 may also request this screening during their PHA.

This enhanced screening protocol complements the efforts outlined in the “Warfighter Performance Optimisation – Total Force Fitness” memorandum, and represents a continued investment in the health, peak performance, and resilience of the force. The protocol will enable the Department to establish a comprehensive baseline and offer targeted testosterone therapy, ensuring that it sustains a healthy, capable, and decisively dominant fighting force.

The Department of War is committed in building and maintaining a ready, lethal fighting force prepared to dominate the battlefield and achieve peace through strength. This enhanced screening protocol complements the efforts outlined in the “Warfighter Performance Optimisation – Total Force Fitness” memorandum, and represents a continued investment in the health, peak performance, and resilience of the force. The protocol will enable the Department to establish a comprehensive baseline and offer targeted testosterone therapy, ensuring that it sustains a healthy, capable, and decisively dominant fighting force.

Health and Human Performance Optimisation To Enhance Military Readiness –

Effective immediately (Thursday – 16th July 2026) all Active Duty and Reserve Component personnel aged 30 years and older will be screened for testosterone deficiency as a mandatory element of their Periodic Health Assessment (PHA). Service members under the age of 30 years may also request this

screening during their PHA.

This enhanced screening protocol directly supports the Department’s focus on Human Performance Optimisation while comprehensively addressing Operator Syndrome. Originally identified among the Special Forces in 2020 through collaborative research between the Department of War (DoW) and leading academic institutions, Operator Syndrome represents a unique convergence of health challenges that require proactive clinical intervention.

Additionally, applying lessons learned from treating Operator Syndrome across the Total Force including targeted testosterone therapy directly optimises Warfighter readiness. By August 15, 2026, the Under Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness [USW(P&R)] shall update policy to reflect this new requirement, including DoD Instruction 6200.06, “Periodic Health Assessment (PHA) Program”, September 8, 2016, as amended. The Military Departments and the Defence Health Agency will update subordinate instructions, align internal procedures, and emphasize implementation through comprehensive education for medical personnel and all Service members.

The Assistant Secretary of War for Health Affairs will ensure that testing is available across the Military Health System, promulgate additional implementing guidance and clinical decision support. An advisory council with external experts will be established to guide the DoW on Health and Human Performance Optimisation.

Warfighter Performance Optimisation: Total Force Fitness –

Achieving peace through strength demands a decisively dominant force. Our military advantage and our readiness depend directly on the performance of the Department’s most critical asset: our Warfighters. We maintain our weapon systems and equipment with precision, discipline, and accountability, yet we do not currently manage Warfighter performance with that same level of rigor. That gap directly impacts readiness, increases operational risk, and limits our lethality and effectiveness.

Warfighter Performance Optimisation (WPO) is the Department’s approach in closing this gap. By building on and modernising the principles of Total Force Fitness (TFF), WPO will deliver a unified operational approach to accelerate readiness, dominance, and peak performance across the Force. We will treat the Warfighter as a readiness capability, held to the same disciplined evaluation, maintenance, and optimisation we demand of every asset that preserves combat power. To maintain warfighting mastery and advance a unified WPO approach that keeps our teams cognitively sharp, physically capable, and dominant over time, the Department will:

• Uphold Commanders’ Unwavering Responsibility. We have entrusted our Commanders with the Nation’s most vital asset – the American Warfighter. The Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Officers leading our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Guardians hold direct responsibility for the physical fitness, mental acuity, and combat focus of their teams. WPO will provide leaders with the data, tools, capabilities, and resources required to understand Warfighter performance, anticipate degradation, and take necessary actions.

• Accelerate WPO Technology and Innovation. The Department will create a rapid pipeline to identify, validate, and scale innovations and capabilities that give our warfighting teams a decisive edge. This means aggressively fielding data analytics, wearables, and cutting-edge technologies across modernised TFF domains that improve performance in demanding operational environments, not just in a lab.

• Elevate Cognitive Performance as Key to Readiness. On the modern battlefield, decision-making, attention, and cognitive endurance are as critical as physical fitness. The Department will establish cognitive performance as a core occupational readiness competency, measuring and managing it with the same attention and discipline we apply to our physical standards. We will mitigate brain health risks that erode cognitive performance and leverage tactics, techniques, and procedures to train and optimise Warfighter cognition.

• Invest in Lethality. Our investment in WPO hinges on a concerted effort to maximise the readiness and lethality of our Warfighting teams. The Department will bring visibility to Warfighter performance investments, manage these programs as a unified portfolio, and allocate funding to proven, force-multiplying capabilities. We will integrate WPO priorities directly into the Department’s planning, programming, and budgeting process to ensure sustained, focused, and properly aligned resourcing.

Drawing upon the best practices across the Department, I direct the Under Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness (USW(P&R)), in coordination with the Military Departments and Services, Joint Staff, and supporting Do W Components, to submit a report within 60 days to assess existing initiatives and capabilities contributing to Warfighter performance optimisation across the Force. This report should identify actions to equip our Service members and leaders with the tools, data, and resources necessary to meet and exceed readiness standards and to maximise their lethality and effectiveness. To that end, the USW(P&R) will issue a coordinated action plan to drive comprehensive WPO and TFF across the Department.

The Department will act now to achieve this vision, driving forward the fundamental shifts already underway, from restoring uncompromising fitness standards to revitalizing the Chaplain Corps that anchors the moral and spiritual strength of the force. These are not cosmetic changes; they are a return to what makes the American Warfighter lethal, resilient, and unbreakable. I therefore expect every leader, from the fire team leader to the four-star general, to own this responsibility. Your first duty is to forge a disciplined, lethal team ready to deploy, fight, and win whenever our Nation calls. There is no other standard, and there never will be.

Team Maverick.