Three members of congress, including U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, are calling for an investigation into the death of a U.S. Air Force trainee from Lackland Air Force Base.
In a news release Tuesday night, Castro said “the Air Force confirmed that trainee Keon McDaniel died from the flu during the outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.”
According to a June 17 news release from the U.S. Air Force, McDaniel, a trainee with the 737th Training Support Squadron, died June 16.
The Air Force said McDaniel was in his sixth week of Basic Military Training on June 12 when he experienced a “medical emergency” and was subsequently transported to Brooke Army Medical Center for treatment. McDaniel died at the hospital four days later.
In its June 17 statement, the Air Force said the cause of McDaniel’s medical emergency is under investigation and a “comprehensive medical review” is being conducted to “determine the facts.”
During a joint news conference Tuesday afternoon in Washington, D.C., alongside fellow U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania) and U.S. Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-California), the San Antonio-area congressman connected McDaniel’s death to a recent flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base that he said has swelled to 284 confirmed cases and includes four hospitalizations.
“I’m demanding an investigation into his (McDaniel’s) death in connection to the flu outbreak,” Castro (D-San Antonio) said.
“As a veteran, and as the ranking member of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, I know that military readiness is built on discipline, professionalism and on leaders who make decisions based on evidence and not ideology,” Houlahan, a former U.S. Air Force officer, said. “Readiness begins and ends with healthy troops. That’s why what is happening in Lackland is so deeply disturbing and troubling.”
The Congress members also called on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “reinstate the flu vaccine requirement for all service members” and introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would require all service members to get vaccinated for the flu.
“In my previous role at the Department of Defense, I oversaw the Defense Health Agency. I know firsthand why we kept these requirements,” Cisneros, a U.S. Navy veteran who is also on the Military Personnel Subcommittee, said. “Health care is part of readiness. Vaccines are part of readiness.”
“What’s absurd about keeping those who serve our nation safe?” Castro asked rhetorically. “No president or secretary should be able to play politics and put the health of our troops at risk.”
In an interview with KSAT on Tuesday, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones noted that recruits who have “fallen ill” can also come into contact with civilians on base.
“It’s unfortunate, because again, this is completely preventable,” she said. “I mean, that’s in fact why you have the vaccine.”
Jones, who previously served as Under Secretary of the Air Force, emphasized the impact on military readiness.
“I know how important it is to keep that timeline and that pipeline moving, and so this unnecessary, and unfortunately, kind of politicization of public health, has yielded this negative impact on our readiness,” she said.
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