WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has reinstated mandatory influenza vaccinations for new recruits across its service branches, reversing part of a policy adopted earlier this year that made flu shots voluntary for service members, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday. The decision comes as military health officials respond to a flu outbreak at a major Air Force training installation in Texas.
The Pentagon confirmed that recruits entering basic training for the Army, Navy and Air Force will once again be required to receive annual flu vaccinations. The requirement was approved through exemptions to a broader Defense Department policy announced in April by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which ended the military-wide flu vaccine mandate for active-duty personnel and reservists.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the exemptions were granted after reviews conducted by military officials. “The decisions were based upon thorough risk assessments and are designed to maximize operational readiness, lethality, and force generation, while safeguarding at-risk populations,” Parnell said in a statement.
The policy change follows an influenza outbreak among trainees at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas, one of the military’s largest training centers. Reuters reported that more than 220 recruits had been diagnosed with influenza and several had been hospitalized. Other news organizations reported that the number of cases had approached 300 by late June. Military officials said details regarding the outbreak remain under review.
Defense officials said the reinstated requirement applies primarily to recruits and certain other personnel covered by approved exemptions. The broader policy making flu vaccinations voluntary for most service members remains in place.
Hegseth announced the end of the military-wide flu vaccine requirement in April, citing what he described as “medical autonomy” and religious freedom. At the time, he said service members would remain free to receive the vaccine but would no longer be compelled to do so under a blanket mandate.
Public health experts and some former military medical officials had expressed concerns that removing the requirement could increase the risk of outbreaks in training environments, where recruits live and work in close quarters. Military officials have not publicly linked the latest exemption decision directly to the Texas outbreak, maintaining that the timing was coincidental.
As of Thursday, military branches were implementing the updated guidance at recruit training facilities nationwide. Pentagon officials said each service would oversee administration of the vaccine requirement under the approved exemptions while continuing to monitor health conditions at training centers.
