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

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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........

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