In case that made anybody curious: I took a quick look around via Google, etc.: there's not a lot of definitive stuff that pops up immediately, other than that lots of soldiers are on steroids whether by their own prescription or with assistance.
This one was the most interesting of 5 or 6 articles I clicked:
US soldiers using steroids to increase brawn for battle
Therein:
"Since 2008 only about 300 soldiers have been tested for steroids. The army conducts random testing of 450,000 soldiers each year for use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other narcotics"
The article byline is 2010, so that's more than it would feel like if you assumed it was 2016 or 2017, but 300 vs 450,000 is sorta telling, though not as telling as someone coming from within the ranks to rat out a program.
Flipside: of the articles I hit, including forum questions (
Steroids - Professional Soldiers ®) nobody stepped forward to say it's *not* the case that SF/Special ops are admistering PEDs.
I dunno. I found the question interesting. It's hard to imagine that with what's at stake if PEDs are regarded as a survival advantage (why wouldn't they be) they would not be an option.
(OK...to add...got curious:
Question: Does the military put its soldiers on PEDs? If not, why not?. "Active duty Marine Officer here with experience at the battalion, MEF, and MARFOR level AND a former Substance Abuse Coordinator. The military does not currently provide steroids/PEDs to its regular, rank-and-file troops. I never asked the question why not? but I suspect that the advantages dont outweigh the disadvantages." This forum has posts that don't seem to me to ring false or incongruous -- i.e. personalities and malfunctions make a lot of sense, e.g. "SGT Dubois"'s mix of apparent candor and corniness -- and the sort of deadpan serious marine-ness of "Semper Fi" quoted above. What sticks out is that he adds, "...to its regular, rank-and-file troops." His purpose is to clarify the non-use of steroids, but he takes the trouble to clarify and make a distinction about those to whom the military *doesn't* provide steroids. If the military didn't provide steroids to any one at all, it wouldn't be necessarily to stipulate "...to its regular...troops" etc.. That sticks out because it seems like that guy is trying to be truthful. Maybe he just doesn't know if it also applies to non-regular, non-rank-and-files.)
