Obviously, testosterone doesn’t make us smarter or savvier, more capable to handle complex situations quickly or to adjust to an opponent.
Otherwise, War/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would be getting calls from Mensa’s brain crowd about instant membership.
Hegseth, a constant advocate for muscularity over empathy, now is ordering testosterone deficiency testing for all military members over 30 and the standing order to undergo shots for any perceived low-T result. He sees eliminating testosterone deficiency as a way of “restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities” and retaining our military’s “leading edge of lethality” for the individual Warfighter.
That’s unless you happen to be a woman, whom Hegseth would prefer to avoid combat altogether — or the commander in chief, who seems to have plenty of unharnessed testosterone but not much physical agility.
By contrast, Hegseth has dropped shots for flu or Covid, apparently out of the mistaken belief that masculine toughness is naturally resistant to, say, contagious virus. Just for the record, flu , measles and other respiratory infections have turned out to be concerns for the military stationed near Iran because of high density living aboard ships or in camps.
Hegseth prides himself on his own tip-top physical conditioning now that he apparently turned away from consuming lots of alcohol, complete with public pushup contests with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., delight at White House martial arts demos, and fat-shaming for overweight generals. He firmly believes that a muscular soldier is a more dangerous warfighter and thinks he has the power and position to force testosterone treatments to assure that lethal edge.
The War on Nature
Maybe this is what Hegseth believes passes as military intelligence, partly explaining why he constantly sees bombing in Iran separate from achieving an overall strategic objective.
Only, it turns out that Hegseth, um, may not quite understand what he is talking about.
Let’s start with testosterone, a primary steroid hormone essential for male reproductive development, muscle mass maintenance, bone density and sex drive. Not lethality. What Hegseth probably wants is more male soldiers who accept his socialized view of toughness or masculinity, not a specific steroid count.
The medical research is clear: There is no “normal” level of testosterone.
In fact, blood levels of testosterone can “vary dramatically over time and even during the course of a day,” according to a Harvard Medical School study, making a snapshot less than definitive. Add in a large study by the National Institutes of Health that concluded in young to middle-aged males, “testosterone levels are positively associated with muscle mass but not with muscle strength” – or presumably lethality. The Food and Drug Administration warns that testosterone-boosting drugs of the sort that Hegseth is ordering can produce high blood pressure, blood clots and mood changes.
A decade ago, I underwent prostate cancer surgery, radiation and hormone treatments to halt the testosterone that fed the cancer. It left me hairless and more fatigue but did not seem to touch either quickness of thought or any killer instinct I may have been harboring.
Apart from all else, the Pentagon is in court on a case about dropping flu shots arguing that it cannot manage widespread vaccinations. T-shots could involve hundreds of thousands of military members, a seemingly at odds with what is being argued in court.
The Nature of War
In its recruiting materials, the Army itself says it wants soldiers who blend physical resilience with strong character and mental discipline. Desirable traits include the capacity to endure stress, ethical integrity, the ability to function seamlessly in a team, and an unyielding commitment to the mission.
Where does it say manly men and testosterone? Or the desire to kill people? The Army’s materials say what is valued are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. It seems like a good list, requiring commitments that don’t include testosterone-building drugs.
Hmm. I’d like to know the testosterone level of those Navy Blue Angel pilots who thought it an perfectly reasonable idea to dive to just above beachgoers in Florida, sending umbrella spikes flying dangerously through the crowd – all to the plaudits from Hegseth and the acting Secretary of the Navy, Hung Cao. Sure, the action could have been lethal, but where was the judgment?
As columnist Fred Kaplan argues in Slate.com, the bigger fallacy here is that even if Hegseth’s assumptions about testosterone are correct, they may have little to do with the nature of modern warfare or the talents, abilities, or “lethality” of a modern “warfighter” who launches missiles or directs drones from over the horizon.
Obviously, some combat centers on individual heroics and physicality. It is possible that a low testosterone level may affect endurance of special ops teams, for example.
But daily, we are redefining a new era in warfare as the need to understand robotics and artificial intelligence, computer programming and the links among economic, diplomatic and military concerns. We are valuing quickness of mind over quickness of fists.
The modern army, navy and air services are as dependent on understanding cultural issues, language and communication skills, and the coordination of international intelligence findings as they are on brute force, regardless of gender, political outlook or obedience.
These all reflect skills that Hegseth has discouraged, barred, cut or eliminated for our military enlisted and officers alike.
If Hegseth could interrupt his pushups long enough, perhaps he could think more clearly.
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