Castro says Air Force confirmed death from flu outbreak at Texas base

The Air Force has confirmed a trainee died as a result of a flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, according to Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas).

Keon McDaniel was in his sixth week of basic military training when he experienced a “medical emergency” June 12. He was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center and died there on June 16, the Air Force said.

At the time, the service said his death was undergoing a medical review and did not name influenza as the cause. But Castro said Tuesday that McDaniel “died from the flu,” which also has sickened nearly 300 service members.

“This is a tragedy that could have been prevented were it not for the reckless actions of” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Castro told reporters during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol.

In scrapping the flu vaccine mandate for all service members this past April, Castro argued Hegseth has put troops in harm’s way and undermined the military’s readiness.

“We’re at war with Iran and face many threats throughout the globe. A soldier who is sick cannot fight effectively,” he said. “The flu vaccine is a simple way to make sure troops are healthy and prepared to carry out their mission.”

Castro added that the flu outbreak at Lackland “is getting worse,” with now 284 confirmed flu cases and four hospitalizations. That’s up from 160 cases in June.

Over the past month, the influenza outbreak has hammered the 37th Training Wing at Lackland, part of Joint Base San Antonio, through which more than 36,000 recruits flow annually.

The incident follows Hegseth’s decision this spring to end the military’s mandatory flu vaccines for service members, arguing the shift would give troops “medical autonomy” and “freedom to express their religious convictions.”

The flu shot requirement, around since 1945, was an “absurd” and “overreaching” mandate that weakened the country’s warfighting capabilities, Hegseth claimed.

But the outbreak at Lackland has prompted the Army, Navy and Air Force to once again require flu shots for basic trainees.

Castro says it took a month for the Pentagon to approve Lackland’s request to reinstate the mandate, calling for an investigation into McDaniel’s death in connection to the flu outbreak.

Castro, along with Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), last week co-sponsored an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to require service members to be vaccinated for influenza, but House Republicans voted down the provision.

“When our troops volunteer to risk their lives for our country, the least we can do is not ask them to risk their lives because their leaders abandoned decades of military medicine,” Houlahan said alongside Castro. “The House Rules Committee’s refusal to make our amendment in order was a missed opportunity to right Secretary Hegseth’s wrong and to put military readiness ahead of politics. We owe our service members better.”

Houlahan, who is a former Air Force officer, also called the situation at Lackland “deeply disturbing and troubling.”

And Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), who also spoke at the press conference, echoed his colleagues that the influenza mandate should never have been rolled back in the first place.

“The outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base was entirely preventable as evidenced by the decades prior with no outbreaks,” he said. “Now there are almost 300 confirmed flu cases. That is almost 300 future airmen and women who will not be finishing their training at their expected dates. This has completely set back the Air Force’s expected recruitment class from entering the future squadrons on time.”