Confidential Pentagon Memo Says Transgender Soldiers Can Defer Deployment While on Hormones

Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters upset about a reinstated ban on transgender service members in the U.S. military near a military recruitment center in Times Square in New York on July 26, 2017. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Transgender soldiers will be allowed to delay deployment for up to 300 days while using cross-sex hormones during their “transition” and waive physical fitness standards, according to a confidential Pentagon memo.

The Feb. 1 Womack Army Medical Center (WAMC) memo said that the delay in deployment was needed so the transgender soldier could “stabilize” while taking hormones.

The 34-page Department of Defense document first reported by the Dossier, estimated it could take 9–18 months to complete a gender transition.

“Hormone therapy comes with potential health risks and undesired side effects,” the memo stated.

Transgender activists upset about a ban on transgender service members in the U.S. military participate in a rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 10, 2019. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The military’s goal for transgender service members, according to the memo, is “to provide a safe and effective pathway to achieve lasting personal comfort with their gendered selves to maximize their overall health and promote psychological well-being and self-fulfillment” while serving.

Alan Hopewell, a neuro-psychologist in Fort Worth, Texas, who served in the military for 28 years, said the memo illustrates the serious issues surrounding transgender soldiers.

“I’ve been doing this for 50 years,” Mr. Hopewell said. “The kind of person who would dress up in a dress and do all this stuff is mentally unstable.”

Mr. Hopewell said the military has yet to address the “medication issue.” He believes the 300-day moratorium on deploying soldiers confused about gender will be just the beginning of problems.

C. Alan Hopewell served in the Army as a nuero-psychologist. Courtesy of Alan Hopewell

Combining mental instability with hormones under combat stress could be dangerous to the transgender soldier and other troops, he said.

Transgender soldiers taking hormones are more likely to suffer from mood swings and health problems, making them a higher mission risk when deployed, according to Hopewell.

High doses of hormones have contributed to erratic behavior exhibited by some gender dysphoric people, he said, and Army medics aren’t equipped to deal with such issues in the field.

Even if deployed, it could take significant medical resources to deal with transgender medical needs in a combat situation, he said.

Mr. Hopewell doesn’t believe allowing transgender soldiers to serve in the military is a good investment for the military because he doesn’t think they will last long.

A significant Danish transgender suicide and mortality study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on June 27 showed that transgender individuals had “significantly higher rates of suicide attempt, suicide mortality, suicide-unrelated mortality, and all-cause mortality compared with the non-transgender population.”

Under the Biden administration, the U.S. Army changed its rules in 2021 to allow those with gender dysphoria—confusion and distress over biological sex—to serve.

Gender identity would “no longer be a basis for involuntary separation or military discharge, denied reenlistment or continuation of service, or subjected to adverse action or mistreatment,” according to an explanation of the policy changes on the U.S. Army website.

“This is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said after Mr. Biden’s announcement.

Some military officials have dismissed medication and service concerns surrounding transgender soldiers, saying the military should not discriminate.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (R) walks past military guards during arrival honors at the Department of National Defense in Camp Aguinaldo military camp in Quezon City, Manila, Philippines, on Feb. 2, 2023. Rolex Delapena-Pool/Getty Images

Hormone treatment for transgender soldiers is no different from birth control pills for female soldiers, according to some who have spoken out.

Advocates say it is not a mental illness, and transgender soldiers aren’t just in it to transition on the taxpayer’s dime.

They were eligible to receive taxpayer-funded mental health “care,” hormones, genital surgeries, mastectomies and breast implants, and voice “therapy,” according to the memo.

Transgender soldiers could undergo various surgeries after taking hormones for 12 months, according to the memo.

It indicated what procedures could be performed at WAMC, including hysterectomies, “upper” surgeries—meaning breast removal or implants—and ovaries or testes.

U.S. soldiers participate in a joint military drill between the US 2nd Infantry Division Stryker Battalion and the ROK 25th Infantry Division Army Tiger Demonstration Brigade at a training field in Paju, South Korea, on Jan. 13, 2023. Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images

Face and body contouring was possible at WAMC, but the memo said it is not a covered procedure.

Sex-change surgeries to remove genitals would be referred out to other facilities, the memo said.

It detailed the creation of a Transgender Care Team for gender dysphoric soldiers. Once diagnosed with gender dysphoria, personnel were expected to call soldiers by their preferred pronouns.

Soldiers would select a name and gender. They would then be able to dress according to their preferred gender and ask for a physical fitness test standard waiver, according to the memo.

While some see the inclusion of transgender soldiers as boosting sagging military recruitment, others say “woke” policies on gender and race are the reason for the decline.

President Joe Biden signs an Executive Order reversing the Trump-era ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Jan. 25, 2021. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Mr. Hopewell said he knows military families reject the current “nonsense” and no longer encourage their children to join the military because of “woke” gender and race ideology.

He said the idea that people who reject norms and believe they can be a different gender doesn’t square with a military mindset based on rules.

“They can put everybody’s life at risk, frankly,” Hopewell said.

DOD clinical psychiatrist Daniel Maurer, cited in the memo, didn’t immediately respond to an Epoch Times’ request for comment about the combat readiness of transgender soldiers.