Despite Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lifting the U.S. military’s flu vaccine mandate, the process of requiring recruits to get vaccinated has restarted earlier this month. The shift comes as Lackland Air Force Base’s Basic Military Training program faces a f
For the third round of basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, the flu isn’t just circulating. It’s spreading through the tight rhythm of recruits who share rooms, schedules, and close quarters.
In recent weeks, the outbreak at Lackland has infected 275 people, according to a congressional staffer with knowledge of the situation. The base. home to the Air Force’s Basic Military Training program in Texas. has moved to slow it down: the unit has implemented mitigation measures. is monitoring trainees who may have been exposed. and is treating symptomatic trainees with antiviral medications such as Tamiflu.
As Lackland wrestles with that surge, another decision has quietly been rolling back in parallel. All branches of the U.S. military began once again requiring their recruits to get flu vaccines earlier this month, a Pentagon official confirmed Wednesday. It is an exception to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s earlier decision to lift the military’s vaccine mandate.
The reinstatement process for recruit vaccine requirements began before the Lackland outbreak was publicly acknowledged, the congressional staffer said.
Hegseth’s move, announced in late April, was blunt: he said the annual flu vaccine would be voluntary for service members “effective immediately.” In a video posted to social media, Hegseth said requiring people to get vaccinated was “overly broad and not rational.”
But by early May, the military departments had shifted toward exemptions. All departments formally requested exemptions that allow them to keep requiring flu vaccinations for certain service members. and those exemptions were granted in early June. according to the congressional staffer. The exemptions typically apply to vulnerable populations like people who live in communal environments, healthcare workers and other categories.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell later framed the policy direction as a targeted measure rather than a blanket return. In a statement last week. Parnell said exceptions to the voluntary flu vaccine policy were issued following a “comprehensive review.” He said the decisions were based on thorough risk assessments and are designed to maximize operational readiness. lethality. and force generation. while safeguarding at-risk populations. He added that the Department remains committed to the health and readiness of its warfighters and civilian personnel.
When asked for comment Wednesday, the Pentagon referred CBS News to Parnell’s earlier statement.
The reopening of recruit flu vaccination requirements lands in a long-running debate inside the military over who should be vaccinated. when. and why. The flu vaccine was first mandated for troops in 1945. leading to millions of vaccinations. according to a 2022 analysis of vaccine mandates in the military. That requirement was lifted in 1949, reinstated in the 1950s, and remained mandatory until Hegseth’s order.
The Pentagon has long required personnel to be vaccinated against a range of diseases from hepatitis B to measles. mumps and rubella. Military vaccination programs date back to Gen. George Washington’s leadership of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a 2021 Congressional Research Service report notes.
The COVID-19 mandate also sits behind the current argument. The Biden administration required service members to receive COVID-19 vaccines. and thousands of people who declined to get vaccinated voluntarily or involuntarily left the military. That mandate was lifted in 2023. and last year. President Trump authorized service members who refused the COVID-19 vaccine to be reinstated.
In the middle of all that policy churn, Lackland’s outbreak offers a stark, operational reality: basic training depends on mass close contact, and flu spreads fast when people are clustered.
That is the tight thread running through this moment—Hegseth’s “effective immediately” voluntary decision on one side, and a fresh round of recruit vaccine requirements on the other—arriving with the same aim spelled out by Parnell: safeguarding at-risk populations while maintaining readiness.
For recruits now cycling through Basic Military Training, the question is no longer abstract. The flu is already in the building, and the measures coming down the line are meant to stop it from accelerating further.
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