(TNND) — President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday to ban transgender troops in our military.

The order denounced “radical gender ideology” that Trump said hurts our military’s readiness and effectiveness.

Trump ordered the defense secretary to update regulations and issue new guidance for a transgender ban.

“Consistent with the military mission and longstanding DoD policy, expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service,” Trump’s order stated. “Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life. A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”

Military service must be reserved for those mentally and physically fit for duty, the order stated.

Courtney Manning, who has led research on military recruitment and readiness at the American Security Project, said the emphasis in Trump’s executive order on mental and physical health conditions is interesting, because around 60% of incoming active duty troops require medical waivers to join.

And the vast majority of medical waivers are approved, because there simply aren’t enough able-bodied people in this country to meet the needs, Manning said.

The executive order mentions “bipolar and related disorders,” along with other conditions. Manning said the order seems to be using conditions like bipolar disorder as a justification for why transgender service members should be banned.

“So, we're already in the most significant recruiting crisis since the initiation of the all-volunteer force,” Manning said. “This is certainly not going to help things.”

There aren’t a lot of transgender people serving in the military, though estimates vary.

A 2016 RAND report, cited last year by the Congressional Research Service, estimated there were between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender service members in the active component.

A 2018 report found there were nearly 9,000 transgender troops in active duty.

The Pew Research Center found that just 1.6% of U.S. adults are transgender or nonbinary overall.

Removing less than 10,000 troops from a service of over 1 million might not sound like a big hit to force strength.

But Manning said the military could really feel the pain if transgender troops are pulled out of critical-skill positions, such as cybersecurity and drone operators.

“These are people who the U.S. military just can't afford to lose,” she said.

And she said there’s potential for the justification in Trump’s order to set a precedent that could keep others out of the service based on other physical and mental health conditions.

Any new restrictions that shrink an already shallow pool of applicants might force the military to compensate with higher pay or other incentives, like the promise of less risk to new recruits, Manning said.

The Army hit its recruiting goal last fiscal year but suffered through back-to-back years of only pulling in around 75% of the soldiers it needed.

The services failed to meet their recruiting goal by about 41,000 troops in fiscal 2023, counting both active duty and reserves.

The Navy only hit 88% of its recruiting goal last year.

Gen. Randy George, now the chief of staff of the Army, told House lawmakers during a 2023 hearing that only about a quarter of young Americans are qualified to serve.

A young person might not meet physical standards, or their test scores might be too low. Manning said obesity disqualifies a lot of recruits.

“Fewer still, we’re finding, are interested in serving, and that’s something we are working very hard to change,” the general said. “Our Army remains a great place to be, and I think our high retention rates speak to that. The trouble is many Americans don’t realize it or believe it.”

A Defense Department survey of young people found just 9% think it’s likely that they’ll join the military.

Their main deterrents aren’t because the military allows transgender people to serve or other issues of diversity or inclusion.

The top reasons young people said they didn’t want to join were their worries about being killed or injured, risks of suffering emotional or psychological troubles, being forced to leave family or friends, and their desire to pursue other career interests.

Allison Jaslow, the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said Trump’s ban on transgender service members is bad for our national security.

Jaslow also called it “backward, harmful and contrary to American values.”

“No American who is willing and able to wear the uniform should be getting turned away by a recruiter, or worse, being booted from the military after years of their service and sacrifice, and significant investment by the US taxpayer into their training to be a warfighter,” Jaslow said in a statement.

Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign promptly announced their intent to sue the Trump administration to block the implementation of the transgender ban in the military.

The groups’ news release included a statement from Emily Shilling, a transgender service member and a commander in the Navy who has flown 60 combat missions in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Shilling, who the groups said was speaking in her personal capacity, said she just wants to continue to serve her country.

“For nearly two decades, I’ve upheld the highest standards of excellence, leading teams in combat and peace,” Shilling said in the news release. “All I ask is the opportunity to keep using my training and experience to serve this country with honor, courage, and dedication.”