Author: Idrees Ali, Reuters

U.S. Army officials identified the soldier who died this week from injuries sustained during an accident at an on-post motor pool at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Staff Sgt. Deonte Lamar Davis, assigned to the 19th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade, XVII Airborne Corps, died on Tuesday at Fort Knox, Kentucky, according to a Wednesday statement.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Staff Sgt. Davis,” Col. Jeff Burges, commander of the 20th Engineer Brigade, said in the release. “He was an outstanding Soldier and leader, and will be deeply missed by all his family, friends and fellow soldiers across the formation.”

Davis hailed from Daytona Beach, Florida, and he was a bridge crewmember assigned to the base since 2024.

Preliminary information regarding the incident found that engineering equipment fell on Davis while he was working in the motor pool, according to a Tuesday base release shared with Military Times.

Army motor pools are facilities where units maintain and work on vehicles, equipment and machinery.

Emergency responders were called to the scene around 10:30 a.m. local time, and David received emergency medical care before being transported by air to University of Louisville Hospital. He was later pronounced dead, the release states.

As part of the standard process for investigating soldiers’ fatalities, the incident is under investigation by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, but initial indications are that it was accidental.

Davis’ awards include the Army Commendation Medal, two Army Achievement Medals, two Army Good Conduct Medals, National Defense Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and Overseas Service Ribbon, per the release.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing the Army to explain why it is shuttering a specialized drone battalion less than a year after establishing it, a move that comes as conflicts across the world have become increasingly defined by unmanned aerial systems and electronic warfare.

The 600-member “Unmanned Assault Battalion,” created as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, was charged with learning tactics and skills from Ukraine’s more-than four-year fight against Russia and applying them to the U.S. military. In a letter, legislators expressed concern that eliminating the battalion was another sign of the Defense Department’s “uneven and inconsistent” support to Europe and Ukraine, and they questioned how the U.S. would continue to learn drone warfare from the Ukraine theater.

“We have deep concerns that eliminating this specialized drone unit will limit our ability to learn from allies, particularly the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and hinder our efforts to modernize drone warfare at the speed necessary to compete on the modern battlefield,” Sens. Jeanne, Shahee, Thom Tillis, Angus King and Rep. Michael Turner, said in the Sept. 1 letter, provided by Sen. Shaheen’s office.

“This specialized unit was a prudent response in a moment when the character of warfare is changing faster than a conventional formation’s ability to adapt,” the lawmakers said after asking if the decision to close the unit was made by the Army or based on guidance from Defense Department leadership. They asked for an explanation by Sept. 21.

The unit is expected to return to its airborne infantry mission after participating in the multinational Exercise Saber Junction this month.

In the letter, addressed to Acting Army Chief of Staff. Gen. Christopher LaNeve and outgoing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, legislators said they understood the move to be a result of Gen. LaNeve’s “back to basics” message, where he ordered the force to focus on its primary combat mission.

The Army has seen a massive leadership shakeup as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired over a dozen top leaders. Former Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Randy George, who championed drone innovation through his Transformation in Contact initiative, was ousted at Hegseth’s behest. He has not yet nominated a successor.

Driscoll, who supported modernization measures and acquisition reform, resigned on short notice this week amid friction with Hegseth. His resignation further thins the Army’s top ranks as the country remains locked into a war with Iran that has now stretched over six months amid missile stockpile shortages and extended deployments.

The Defense Health Agency has explicitly established a hormone-screening pathway for female service members, directing providers to screen women annually for hormonal dysregulation and establishing clinical pathways for problems ranging from menstrual irregularities and fatigue to perimenopause and menopause.

The Sept. 2 guidance, signed by DHA Director Vice Adm. Darin Via, establishes clinical pathways for female hormonal optimization and lays out when a woman should receive additional evaluation, what conditions providers should consider and when treatment or referral is warranted.

A female Marine interviewed by Military Times said low testosterone can occur in women but can be harder to identify because women normally have much lower testosterone levels than men.

“Low testosterone isn’t really a problem that affects women the same way as it affects men,” the Marine said.

Unlike the mandatory testosterone blood testing for male service members aged 30 and older, the female pathway begins with an annual clinical screen for hormonal dysregulation during the Periodic Health Assessment, or PHA.

Testosterone

DHA identifies fatigue, musculoskeletal pain and changes in menstrual patterns, including cycles longer than 35 days, as signs that should prompt a targeted assessment for Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, or RED-S.

DHA says military operational demands, fitness standards and occupational stressors can increase the risk of RED-S, a condition associated with low energy availability that can contribute to bone-stress injuries, impaired endocrine function and lost operational readiness.

If the initial assessment does not indicate concern for RED-S, no further evaluation is required under the DHA guidance. If concern remains, active-duty service members are referred to their primary care managers for further assessment and treatment.

The next step can include a validated screening tool such as the Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire, followed by the International Olympic Committee’s RED-S Clinical Assessment Tool Version 2. That assessment places service members into four risk categories, ranging from low risk, with unrestricted training and duties, to high risk, where limited duty, medical profiling or hospitalization may be necessary.

DHA also recognizes that one of the most visible indicators of RED-S can be obscured by treatment and notes that functional hypothalamic amenorrhea can be masked by hormonal contraception.

At the same time, menstrual-cycle and sex-hormone indicators are not scored in the RED-S assessment for women taking thyroid or sex-hormone-altering medications, including hormonal contraceptives.

When RED-S is suspected, clinicians can order blood tests including a complete blood count, comprehensive metabolic panel, ferritin, iron studies, vitamin B12 and thyroid-stimulating hormone. For women with prolonged or absent menstruation, pregnancy testing and additional hormone testing may be ordered when clinically indicated.

Treatment focuses first on correcting the underlying energy deficit, which can mean increasing dietary energy intake, reducing training volume or both. DHA also calls for attention to protein, carbohydrates, calcium and vitamin D, with psychological support when disordered eating, body-image concerns or performance pressures are involved.

Female service members aged 35 and older who report clinically significant symptoms of perimenopause or menopause are to be assessed for whether those symptoms affect operational duties or quality of life. If they do — or if the service member requests education or treatment — the provider is to refer her to a midlife-transition specialist.

That specialist could be an obstetrician-gynecologist, certified nurse midwife, women’s health nurse practitioner, endocrinologist or primary care provider trained in perimenopause and menopause care. If appropriate expertise is unavailable locally, DHA directs providers to its Midlife Telehealth Hub.

A Navy hospital corpsman interviewed by Military Times, says the military standard should remain the ability to perform the job.

“As long as they are fit for duty, any medically optional test they would like to have is fine for me personally,” she said. “If a testosterone treatment makes you fit for duty, then great, get in there.”

The DHA guidance addresses testosterone treatment for women within a narrow clinical context, citing the 2019 Global Consensus Position Statement on testosterone therapy, which identifies Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, or HSDD, in postmenopausal women as the only evidence-based indication for testosterone therapy in women.

The guidance does not establish a testosterone blood-test threshold for diagnosing HSDD. Instead, it calls for a clinical assessment, consideration of other causes and shared decision-making between the patient and provider.

DHA says available evidence does not demonstrate a benefit from testosterone therapy for psychological well-being, depressive symptoms, cognitive performance, cardiovascular outcomes, bone mineral density, or muscle mass and performance. Evidence for treating HSDD with testosterone in perimenopausal women remains limited, according to the guidance.

For a postmenopausal service member with a distressing decline in sexual function, DHA recommends addressing other possible causes before considering testosterone. If treatment is chosen, it is off-label: The guidance recommends one-tenth of an FDA-approved male 1% testosterone cream or gel.

Those undergoing treatment will have their testosterone levels checked three to six weeks after treatment begins or after a dose increase, with the goal of keeping levels within the normal premenopausal female range.

DHA recommends stopping treatment after six months if there is no demonstrated benefit. For women who remain on treatment, the guidance calls for clinical evaluation and testosterone testing every four to six months.

The agency also cautions that safety data for physiologic testosterone treatment in women do not extend beyond 24 months and recommends caution for women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer or high cardiometabolic risk.

The guidance takes effect immediately and expires one year after its Sept. 2 signature unless DHA reissues or cancels it earlier.