Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gives a media briefing in March 2026. Hegseth’s recent decision to undo the Pentagon’s influenza vaccine requirement has come under scrutiny after a flu outbreak at a military base in Texas. (Department of Defense/US Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Brann)
Flu Outbreak Tests Pentagon’s Vaccine-Optional Policy
The outbreak of influenza at Lackland AFB, Texas, comes only two months after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth annulled the Department of Defense’s annual flu vaccine requirement.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been a magnet for controversy during his time as the United States’ top military official. Over the past year and a half, Hegseth has used an unclassified messaging service to share classified military plans, authorized alleged US war crimes in the Caribbean, and overseen the bombing of a girls’ elementary school in Iran, among other incidents.
The latest test for Hegseth appears to be an influenza outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB), Texas, infecting more than 200 servicemembers—two months after the Department of Defense suspended its requirement for an annual flu vaccination, at Hegseth’s direction.
About the Lackland AFB Flu Outbreak
The outbreak hit trainees at the Army’s Basic Military Training course at Lackland, an Air Force spokesperson told NBC News.
“Medical professionals and public health officials have implemented mitigation measures to isolate and treat symptomatic trainees to reduce further exposure and continue to monitor the situation,” the spokesperson said.
Late June is generally not considered part of cold and flu season in the United States, with both seeing their peaks during the fall and winter months, typically spanning from October through April or May. However, influenza can circulate year-round, even if activity generally drops during the summer months.
The outbreak comes roughly nine weeks after Hegseth proclaimed that the flu vaccine would no longer be required for servicemembers.
“The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every service member, everywhere, in every circumstance, at all times, is just overly broad and not rational,” the secretary said. “Our new policy is simple: if you, an American warrior entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it; you should. But we will not force you.”
In his announcement, Hegseth, a former Fox News weekend morning host, suggested that the mandatory influenza and other vaccines were“examples of overreaching mandates.” It was last fall that he mandated that every service member from recruits to general officers in the Pentagon engage in daily physical fitness, even those deployed aboard ships or in distant postings.
Not surprisingly, an old video has circulated again in which the then-morning host said he had not washed his hands for 10 years, arguing that “germs are not a real thing.” Hegseth later clarified that those remarks were meant to be a joke.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), whose district includes Lackland AFB, called Hegseth’s move in April “reckless” and warned that it could impact readiness.
“After Secretary Hegseth scrapped the military’s flu vaccine mandate, it was only a matter of time before an outbreak occurred,” Castro wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “It was a reckless decision that put troops in harm’s way and undermined our military readiness. At the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, nearly 160 service members are now ill. I am especially concerned by the tragic death of a trainee this past week.”
Castro’s post referenced the death of Keon McDaniel, an Air Force trainee who was admitted to the Brooke Army Medical Center on June 12 following an unspecified medical emergency and died on June 16. The Air Force has not yet shared information on McDaniel’s cause of death.
200 Flu Cases Out of 36,000 Isn’t So Bad
The spread of diseases, especially influenza, at training camps has been a serious problem for more than a century. During World War I, which saw the outbreak of the Spanish Flu in 1918, influenza and pneumonia killed more American soldiers and sailors than enemy weapons did.
A century later, flu is more of a minor annoyance than a serious threat to military readiness. Lackland AFB, which is home to the 37th Training Wing, trains more than 36,000 troops annually, so the approximately 200 individuals who are sick with the flu are a very small proportion of the base—roughly half a percent. It is also doubtful that last year’s flu vaccine, which attempts to keep up with the constantly-shifting influenza virus, would have done much to prevent the current outbreak.
In other words, the outbreak on Hegseth’s watch is essentially an unfortunate coincidence with no connection to the scrapping of the flu vaccine policy. But the optics of an outbreak within weeks of the military’s rollback of vaccine requirements are poor for the Pentagon.
Across social media, conspiracists have speculated that someone may have attempted to spread the flu at the base to make Hegseth look bad. The incident comes only days after similar conspiracy theories emerged claiming that Democrats had dumped algae in the National Mall’s reflecting pool in order to embarrass President Donald Trump. But really, who would believe such rumors?
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, 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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