HIV-Positive? Sorry, Uncle Sam Doesn’t Want You Anymore
For most of its history, the US military has refused to recruit HIV-positive soldiers. The Trump administration appears to be returning to that policy.
Those who have tested positive for HIV could be banned from service in the United States military, per a recent policy change. The decision marks the latest shakeup within the Department of Defense (DoD), which has also shuttered diversity programs and driven out transgender and nonbinary individuals.
CNN reported this week that the Pentagon “ordered the military command that processes recruits to hold off on initial training for people who are HIV-positive and recently joined the military.” The DoD could further reinstate a ban on enlistment in the coming weeks.
The US Military Has Long Been Hostile to HIV-Positive Recruits
Beginning in the early 1980s, the US Armed Forces started mandatory HIV screening and banned HIV-positive personnel from deploying or even becoming officers.
Between 1990 and 2024, the Pentagon conducted 46 million tests for HIV among active, guard, and reserve members. In total, 11,280 service members were diagnosed with HIV, with male service members comprising 96.3 percent of those infected.
Service in the military was largely denied to those with HIV until April 2022, when federal court rulings in Roe & Voe v. Austin and Harrison v. Austin barred the Pentagon from discharging HIV-positive service members. It further ordered them to allow deployment and officer commissioning.
Under the policies introduced in June 2022, “individuals who have been identified as HIV-positive, are asymptomatic, and who have a clinically confirmed undetectable viral load will have no restrictions applied to their deployability or to their ability to commission while a Service member solely on the basis of their HIV-positive status.”
The DoD added, “Nor will such individuals be discharged or separated solely on the basis of their HIV-positive status.”
In August 2024, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that the US military could no longer ban HIV-positive individuals from enlisting.
“Modern science has transformed the treatment of HIV,” Brinkema wrote in her ruling, adding, “Asymptomatic HIV-positive service members with undetectable viral loads who maintain treatment are capable of performing all of their military duties, including worldwide deployment.”
However, the Pentagon appealed the decision.
The Battle in the Courts Is Still Ongoing
The issue still has yet to be finalized in the courts, with the military arguing that service members with HIV could put others at risk. It also noted that candidates are disqualified for other chronic illnesses, including high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, limited motion in a joint, vision, and hearing defects. In addition, peanut allergies and communicable diseases such as hepatitis are disqualifiers for service.
“The medical needs of individuals with HIV limit their deployability and the tasks they can perform in military service, and they impose additional costs on the military above those incurred by healthy individuals,” the military wrote in its brief. “Thus, at a minimum, there is a rational basis for the military to treat such individuals differently.”
The DoD’s stance is that, as an infectious disease, HIV could pose a threat to other servicemembers. The Pentagon also questioned the added costs for treatments for those who have tested positive—which it could then be obligated to pay for through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
HIV Probably Isn’t That Dangerous to the Armed Forces
The appellees have rejected this argument.
“The higher-cost justification is not a legitimate interest because it runs contrary to broader federal policy applicable to all agencies, including DoD,” the appellees wrote in their brief. “It is also arbitrary, as appellants apply it only to HIV, not any other condition, and it nonsensically fails to account for the fact that appellants provide HIV-related care to the dependents of service members, without inquiry into their HIV status or any impact on the recruit’s eligibility.”
Moreover, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), those who have tested positive for HIV, but regularly take antiretroviral medications, could expect to see their viral load reduced to the point that it is undetectable in blood tests. It would also be unable to spread through sexual transmission.
“Denying accession to civilians living with HIV is contrary to ending HIV-related stigma and discrimination,” a group of nonprofits, led by the Center for HIV Law and Policy and the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote in another brief supporting the appellees.
Even as the appeals court hasn’t issued a final decision, the DoD’s Accession Policy has called for pausing the training of recruits who have tested positive for HIV.
“While awaiting the decision, we are pausing shipping any HIV+ applicants and will follow-up in the coming weeks,” the DoD told CNN in an email, and referred additional questions to the Department of Justice (DoJ).
It is unclear how many recruits will be affected by the policy change.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
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