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Mandatory testing for the military was first established in the USA in 1985. By 1995, according to a survey carried out by UNAIDS and the Civil-Military Alliance to Combat HIV and AIDS, HIV testing was carried out in some form by 93% of reporting militaries (58 of 62 countries responding to the question).

Some 43 of the reporting countries stated that they impose mandatory HIV testing in some situations: pre-recruitment (25 countries); before foreign deployment (24 countries); before separation from active duty (12 countries), periodically (9 countries); and before a new assignment (8 countries). Rejection of candidates for recruitment based on a positive HIV test is the rule for 45 of 54 respondents, while 44 out of 56 impose restriction of duties for those who are known to be HIV-positive (for example, banning them from combat or from piloting aircraft). Finally, 37 of 41 respondents exclude HIV-positive personnel from overseas deployment.