JAKARTA - The latest flu season in the United States (US) ended with 340,000 people hospitalized and 21,000 deaths. However, the US Secretary of Defense (Menhan), a former television news anchor, Pete Hegseth, did not pay attention to it.
Hegseth, who heads the Pentagon, lifted the mandatory flu vaccination rule for US soldiers for his ambition in the war against Iran in April 2026.
Hegseth decided to reverse a long-standing US military policy and end the requirement as a condition of service.
About two months after the rule came into force or June 2026, a flu outbreak hit the US Air Force Base Lackland, San Antonio, Texas with 160 soldiers declared ill.
This was revealed by US defense officials to the New York Times, quoted from the US cable television channel, MS NOW, Sunday, June 21, 2026.
The outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base spread quickly on the wing of the US Air Force Basic Military Training, where new recruits slept in bunk beds in open spaces and ate together at large communal tables.
According to the New York Times, a new US soldier undergoing basic training in the sixth week died after falling ill last weekend. However, the exact cause of his death is still under investigation.
The report added that only about 40 percent of US soldiers participating in Air Force training chose to receive the flu vaccine - a number that previously had to be 100 percent due to its mandatory nature.
In response to the outbreak at Lackland, the base received an exemption from Hegseth's policy and is now requiring its recruits to be vaccinated.
As a result of this incident, every other US military base is expected to take similar steps to require flu vaccination to prevent outbreaks at their own bases.
During the US Revolutionary War or War of Independence, the US army was also hit by a smallpox outbreak so that the then-general, George Washington, did not neglect the safety of his men other than "inoculating all troops" in 1777.
As historian Craig Bruce Smith explained in an article published in Time magazine in 2021, Washington's decision helped save the lives of many patriots and "undoubtedly helped ensure the survival of the United States."
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