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A controversial move by the Pentagon to reclassify casualties in the Iran war is being taken by US military veterans as a sign of disrespect for the dead.

“It’s such a huge disrespect for the families,” said Michael E Smith, a retired US rear admiral and the founder of National Security Leaders for America. “To claim that they weren’t killed as a result of the war – oh, it was just overseas operations – is just ludicrous.”

In a quiet weekend update to the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS), a military database for displaying casualties, the US Department of Defense – renamed the Department of War under Donald Trump – added more than 140 wounded service members.

They also introduced a new casualty category labeled “Overseas Operations” for personnel killed and wounded “starting July 7” which splits the count from the beginning of the US-Israel war on Iran.

Four US service members killed in action by Iranian forces fall under that category: 1st Lt Tyler James Feehan, Pvt Isabella Gonzales, Sgt Angel S. Rampersad and Sgt Michael Emmanuel Swinton.

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Pete Hegseth’s controversial plan to screen older soldiers for testosterone deficiencies and offer them more of the hormone faced scrutiny this week from a federal judge, who ordered the Trump administration to explain a discrepancy with the treatment of transgender troops.

The US defense secretary announced earlier this month that male service members aged 30 and above would be checked to ensure they have the “right testosterone levels” to perform in the military at an optimal level.

“By addressing these health markers early, we’re keeping you on the leading edge of lethality,” he said in a video posted on X explaining the new policy and using the kind of fighting talk now standard in the Pentagon, which Donald Trump has labeled the Department of War.

According to Hegseth’s announcement to advance what he called “the High-T department of war”, military members found to have lower than normal levels of testosterone, the naturally occurring male hormone that helps build and maintain bone density and muscle mass, can volunteer for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).

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When the ‘“department of government efficiency” was raging unchecked through the federal government in February 2025, the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, ordered his subordinates to find cuts of 8% a year for the next five years, theoretically trimming a total of $340m from the Pentagon budget.

The disclosure briefly sent Palantir and defense stocks tanking – though soon the plan evaporated, as if it never existed.

Instead, Hegseth is now demanding a $454bn increase for 2027 military spending, to a total of almost $1.5tn, in what he describes as a “generational investment”.

Adjusted for inflation, that would for the first time match – and even exceed – US military spending at the height of the second world war during national mobilization, according to a chart prepared by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) pushed back this week against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new proposal to add testosterone screenings to service members’ periodic health assessments.

“The U.S. military does not need more testosterone; it needs better leadership,” Kelly said on MS NOW’s “The Briefing with Jen Psaki” on Monday.

This new standard would require testosterone screening for all service members age 30 or above. The military will provide optional testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for those flagged for deficiencies in this hormone on their screening tests, according to Hegseth.

“The president should fire Pete Hegseth,” said Kelly, a former U.S. Navy captain. “He’s making awful decisions, is putting service members at risks that I would not have expected when I served that a secretary of defense would make these sort of decisions, nor a president.”

A group of Democratic senators expressed “serious concerns” about this screening change in a Monday letter to the defense secretary, citing “longstanding medical guidance” opposing routine population-wide testosterone screenings.

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The US defense secretary, ⁠Pete Hegseth, this week ordered an annual testosterone-deficiency screening for active-duty and reserve service members aged 30 and older, which he says will help to maintain military readiness.

But many medical professionals warn it might do nothing of the sort and instead could increase service members’ risk of infertility or lead to other consequences if testosterone is prescribed inappropriately.

The mandate is one of several recent ⁠healthcare policy changes implemented by Hegseth and other ⁠Trump administration cabinet officials that have sparked debate among ​experts and raised questions about what scientific basis, if any, supports them.

Hegseth has also reversed the military’s longstanding flu vaccine mandate, a decision that was walked back after a flu outbreak, while the Department of Health and HuHegseth has also reversed the military’s longstanding flu vaccine mandate, a decision that was walked back after a flu outbreak, while the Department of Health and Human Services removed 17 members from its vaccine advisory panel and altered its vaccine recommendations.man Services removed 17 members from its vaccine advisory panel and altered its vaccine recommendations.

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Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military will begin testing the testosterone levels of troops 30 and older, telling service members the new screening measure is another way to "optimize your performance" on the battlefield.

Hegseth, who as a Cabinet secretary has embraced masculinity and what he calls "warrior ethos," said he's authorized a new screening program for testosterone deficiency.

"It's well-established since that, as we age, testosterone levels naturally drop," Hegseth said in a short video announcing the plan. "Under the supervision of our world-class medical professionals, war fighters age 30 and older are going to be tested annually as part of their periodic health assessments."

U.S. troops younger than 30 can choose to have their testosterone checked during their annual assessments, the secretary added.

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