Flu Outbreak Sickens Hundreds at Air Force Basic Military Training

A flu outbreak at Air Force Basic Military Training has killed one recruit and sickened more than 280 others at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, according to the congressman who represents the base. 

Reports of the outbreak surfaced in mid-June when the 37th Training Wing, which oversees BMT, announced the death June 16 of trainee Keon McDaniel following “a medical emergency.”

The wing’s initial release said the cause was under investigation, but on June 30, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) wrote in a statement that the Air Force confirmed McDaniel’s death was related to the flu. 

In a subsequent press conference, Castro—whose district includes Lackland—said the Air Force told his office that it has recorded 284 cases and four hospitalizations related to the outbreak. 

Air Education and Training Command, which oversees the 37th Training Wing and BMT, did not answer queries about the number of cases and hospitalizations, or whether McDaniel’s death has been linked to the flu. In a statement, a spokesperson said the wing “has been managing a localized influenza outbreak among trainees at Basic Military Training. 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.  Medical personnel are also monitoring trainees who were in close contact with sick members in case they become symptomatic. Symptomatic trainees are receiving the appropriate care with antiviral medications such as Tamiflu.”

The outbreak is drawing extra scrutiny because it came just a few months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in April he was rescinding the mandate for Active-Duty troops and trainees to receive the annual influenza vaccine.  

Hegseth said in a video posted on social media at the time that “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 Associated Press reported June 24 that only around 40 percent of Air Force trainees took the flu shot after Hegseth made it optional. That’s a little lower than the 46.5 percent of American adults who got the shot this past flu season, according to the CDC. 

Since the outbreak, however, the vaccine is mandatory again for Air Force trainees. Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed in a statement to Air & Space Forces Magazine that the Air Force, along with the Army, Navy, National Security Agency, and Defense Health Agency, asked for and were granted exceptions to the new policy.

The Pentagon has long required vaccinations for service members, citing their benefits in reducing the spread of contagious diseases in the crowded, close-quarters confines of military training. That’s especially true at BMT, where trainees sleep in open-bay barracks and spend most of the day together in groups. 

The annual flu vaccine was first required in the 1940s, according to the bulletin of the U.S. Army Medical Department, and while it has not been required every year since, Pentagon policy dating back to at least 1995 required all Active-Duty troops and trainees to get the shot. 

Vaccine “hesitancy” has surged in recent years, however, and the mandate in 2021 that all service members receive COVID-19 vaccinations fueled a robust political debate. Around 8,000 service members ultimately were required to separate for refusing the Pentagon’s mandate, and the Pentagon has taken steps to allow some members to return.