Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has another new war on his hands at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas — a major flu outbreak among a basic training wing.
Nearly 160 basic training troops at Lackland have fallen ill to the flu, where new recruits sleep on bunk beds in open bays and share meals at large communal tables.
In April, Hegseth decided to reverse a long-standing “absurd, overreaching” mandate requiring service members to receive a flu vaccine. Hegseth stated that the mandate had served to “weaken our warfighting capabilities.”
Service members could volunteer to receive a flu vaccine, but a New York Times report noted that only 40% of Air Force troops opted to take the vaccine — a total that used to be 100% when it was not optional.
In response to the major outbreak, the base received an exception from Hegseth’s policy and is now requiring recruits to get vaccinated.
One trainee in his sixth week of basic training has died after falling ill late last week.
Keon McDaniel, a trainee assigned to the 737th Training Support Squadron, was taken to a base medical center on June 12 after experiencing a medical emergency, and later died on June 16. The cause of McDaniel’s medical emergency remains under investigation, and the Air Force says no additional details will be released to preserve the family’s privacy.