From separating hundreds of highly trained transgender Americans from military service under the 2025 transgender ban to curtailing reproductive freedom for female troops to restricting shaving waivers despite medical and religious accommodations, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth certainly seems to prioritize politics in the form of the MAGA narrative over actual data-driven military readiness.
And Hegseth’s much-touted goal of “maximum lethality” may soon take a major hit thanks to his newly announced decision to rescind the almost-80-year-old military mandatory flu vaccine program in order “to restore freedom and strength to our joint force.”
Hegseth’s idea of “freedom” is quite selective, given that it extends only to the MAGA anti-vaccine crowd and not to transgender service members’ freedom to serve their country.
Let that sink in for a moment: How is being sick with the flu “strength?” And funny, Hegseth’s idea of “freedom” is quite selective, given that it extends only to the MAGA anti-vaccine crowd and not to transgender service members’ freedom to serve their country, troops’ freedom to access reproductive care or service members’ freedom to wear beards due to skin conditions (largely affecting African American service members) or in compliance with religious convictions.
In his Tuesday video announcing the termination of the long-standing military flu vaccine program, Hegseth said the military, under the Biden administration, was “waging an unrelenting war” on service members, “including when it came to denying them simple medical autonomy and the freedom to express their religious convictions.”
First of all, the flu vaccine military mandate dates back to the 1940s, not from former President Joe Biden (that was the Covid-19 vaccine). And how can Hegseth tout “medical autonomy” while making it increasingly difficult for service members to access abortions? His version of autonomy and freedom are only for a select few, similar to service members’ freedom of speech: gifts only bestowed upon those who support the MAGA narrative.
One wonders if Hegseth knows the flu vaccine was developed in the 1940s with assistance from the U.S. Army, whose brass had supported vaccine efforts since World War I, during which the Spanish flu killed almost as many troops as died in combat (45,000 versus 53,402) and sickened over a million more. Hence the U.S. Army had first dibs on the new flu vaccine, mandating it for everyone in 1945 at the tail end of World War II amid fears of the development of biological weapons. The Pentagon temporarily suspended the mandate briefly following the end of the war, only to resume it again in the 1950s as the vaccine became more effective — a mandatory program that continued until this week, given its long-understood contributions to military readiness.
Yet Hegseth, describing the end of mandatory military flu vaccination, said, “We’re seizing this moment to discard any absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our war-fighting capabilities.” Hegseth failed to explain just how having a greater number of sick service members, who will be sicker for longer than if they had been vaccinated, will do anything but weaken the service.
The U.S. military has had to balance military readiness against service member autonomy in the health arena since the nation’s inception. As small pox ravaged his Continental Army, George Washington mandated a crude inoculation method, hoping to save his troops from the British, whom were suspected of weaponizing the virus. His decision is credited with helping the new United States win its independence.
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The breakthrough flu vaccine in the 1940s was followed by a raft of other mandatory vaccines developed from research the U.S. military strongly supported throughout the 20th century, out of straightforward recognition that force readiness of troops in close quarters demands such measures to keep them ready for combat.
Vaccines have not been without controversy. Over 500 troops were court-martialed or discharged following refusal of the anthrax vaccine in the late 1990s, a vaccine the Pentagon had to make voluntary during years of federal litigation challenging its FDA status. Federal law rightly prohibits the use of experimental and “investigational” vaccines without service member informed consent, though the president can waive consent for reasons of national security — the anthrax vaccination, once the vaccine was no longer deemed investigational, eventually resumed in targeted measure for particular service members based on exposure risk and job.
Last year, Hegseth called those service members who refused orders to be vaccinated “warriors of conscience.”
At the beginning of his video, Hegseth referenced the Biden administration’s “war on warriors” in an apparent attempt to conjure the polarizing emotions surrounding the Biden administration’s mandatory Covid vaccine (again, despite the military flu vaccine mandate dating back to 1945). The Covid vaccine, whose development was spearheaded by the first Trump administration, became part of the culture war, with some service members saying it violated their religious convictions, and the Pentagon rejecting most religious accommodation requests based on its compelling interest in force readiness. The issue of whether the U.S. Navy could consider vaccine refusals in its assignment decisions regarding Navy SEALS reached the Supreme Court, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh explaining the court’s decision siding with the government: “The Navy has an extraordinarily compelling interest in maintaining strategic and operational control over the assignment and deployment of all Special Warfare personnel — including control over decisions about military readiness.” After 15 months, Congress rescinded the mandatory military Covid program, but not until over 8,000 service members were discharged due to vaccine refusal. Last year President Donald Trump offered to reinstate any of these members with back pay; only a few returned.
Last year, Hegseth called those service members who refused orders to be vaccinated “warriors of conscience.” He’s now drawing upon that opposition to the Biden administration in his sudden termination of the flu vaccine mandate, one that has nothing to do with Biden or Democrats. Even Sen. Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Hegseth’s decision a mistake, while distinguishing the flu vaccine from the Biden-era “experimental” Covid vaccine program.
Hegseth finished his video with this affirmation: “Your body, your faith and your convictions are not negotiable.”
Unfortunately, given the defense secretary’s myriad personnel decisions demonstrating that all three are indeed pawns in his bigoted “war against woke,” it seems once again that politics and catering to a small MAGA base are being prioritized over service member health, force readiness and national security.
Rachel E. VanLandingham
Rachel E. VanLandingham is the Irwin R. Buchalter professor of law at Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles.