Department of Defense Tells Commanders to Identify Troops With Gender Dysphoria

The troops’ medical records will be scrutinized, and they could be discharged.

The Pentagon building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, in Washington in an undated aerial photo. U.S. Air Force/Getty Images

The Department of Defense has directed commanders to identify service members with a history of gender dysphoria who have not come forward under a new policy preventing people who identify as transgender from serving in the military.

“Commanders who are aware of Service members in their units with gender dysphoria, a history of gender dysphoria, or symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria will direct individualized medical record reviews of such Service members to confirm compliance with medical standards” under the military’s readiness program, Jules W. Hurst III, a Pentagon official, wrote in a memorandum dated May 15.