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  • Hacker News
  • > Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that the Pentagon had granted exceptions to Hegseth’s optional flu shot policy to the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Security Agency, and the Defense Health Agency.

    So which ones are still exempt from the vaccines? Space Force, USMC, Coast Guard, who else?

    by dqv
  • So basically, the "Pentagon" has refused directions from it's "leadership" on the basis that it is not conducive to good military order?

    Sounds like we have a leadership issue.

    by jqpabc123
  • There are a few obscure ones.

    Uniformed Health Service (the reason the Surgeon General is a General), which I'm certain is vaccinated.

    NOAA also has uniformed personnel.

    by annzabelle
  • It turns out eventually you have to deal with reality.
    by andsoitis
  • “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.”
    by Arubis
  • "Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid."
    by javascriptfan69
  • Maybe. But long before that, many other people have to deal with the consequences of a few others' disbelief in reality.
    by michaelteter
  • Sadly, all the time spent deferring reality ends up hurting a lot of bystanders. The debt they've run up is going to be painful, maybe moreso than the damages incurred from the anti-science and anti-transparency policies.
    by SecretDreams
  • However, they already got their headline. While I saw the original policy covered heavily in conservative news sources, I've not seen this retraction covered at all. Thus the base believes that the military is no longer "woke", and 100% of the desired value has been achieved.
    by jghn
  • All of this talk about reality is giving them way too much credit.

    The simple fact is that we’re dealing with idiots and pure stupidity. Idiots elected them and the idiots are having their day in the sun. Unfortunately, their stupidity is no longer contained to the office environments and executive leadership roles they had before. They are unfortunately able to make decisions that affect the general population.

    The US did an okay-ish job for a long time keeping people like this from gaining a foothold of too many positions of power. Unfortunately, we lost control and we may never get it back on the right track.

    by iJohnDoe
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality-based_community
    by neilv
  • > Before writing off the totalitarian world as a nightmare that can't come true, just remember that in 1925 the world of today would have seemed a nightmare that couldn't come true. Against that shifting phantasmagoric world in which black may be white tomorrow and yesterday's weather can be changed by decree, there are in reality only two safeguards. One is that however much you deny the truth, the truth goes on existing, as it were, behind your back, and you consequently can't violate it in ways that impair military efficiency. The other is that so long as some parts of the earth remain unconquered, the liberal tradition can be kept alive. — Orwell

    https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwel...

    by roxolotl
  • More and more I believe the idea that Rome fell due to lead and pollution, because only stupidity could end an empire that had no rivals.
    by 0xbadcafebee
  • RFK Jr has elevated mercury; he says due to eating top predator fish. He underwent chelation therapy and still exhibits some of the symptoms in my opinion.
    by enoint
  • I don't buy it. Empires thrive when they are broadly expanding wealth, whether that's by plundering neighbors or making their economy more effective.

    There's always a tension between growing the pie or taking more of the pie for yourself. If growth appears to be slowing and there's a lot of pie to fight over, more and more people will focus on the latter. Sometimes that's healthy, but without external pressure it usually takes the form of corruption, pettiness, and other destructive behaviors.

    by rurp
  • This administration might be the exception, but it is actually normal for the US military to be getting more vaccines than average, even when their effectiveness is suspect (some past flu vaccines) or side effects are moderate to severe (e.g. anthrax vaccines).

    Readiness - a matter of national security - tends to trump most concerns that, in civilian populations, might warrant greater choice and debate.

    by hammock
  • You'd think other aspects of health, like general fitness and mental well-being would be factored in too, but strangely, the only requirement they seemed to take a hard stance on previously was over-vaccination.

    Almost like it was politically-motivated and it's not truthfully a "matter of national security"

    by DaSHacka
  • There is (was?) a mandatory list of vaccines all military had to receive upon enlisting.
    by 0cf8612b2e1e
  • It’s common sense for any congregate housing arrangement
    by lokar
  • >"The decisions were based upon thorough risk assessments..."

    Both decisions? Or just the walkback one?

    by wrs
  • Not justifying it by any means, but the first one could have been done on a risk assessment of how it would affect recruitment, retention, and morale. There are some worlds in which that could have been the rational choice, especially with knowledge that it would likely get rolled back in time.
    by djsavvy
  • Absolutely none of this should have happened. None.

    The 1918 "Spanish flu" was cultivated in the trenches and spread through military camps and demobilization.

    Hesgeth should be removed from his position ASAP.

    Edit:

    >Around 60% of previously unvaccinated trainees at Lackland initially declined the flu shot during the vaccine requirement’s lapse, according to the defense official.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/24/politics/flu-shot-outbrea...

    Forget about Hesgeth. The USA is completely effed up.

    by Arodex
  • Meanwhile, down the street, you've got RFK and POTUS making measles and polio great again.

    While also lying about taking Tylenol during pregnancy causing autism. They've done more studies since that misinformation to prove once again there's no connection.

    RFK should be removed along with the POTUS who put him there.

    by ourmandave
  • Origins of the 1918 flu are unclear, but there is evidence that it started in Haskell County, Kansas, and spread to Camp Funston, Kansas. As a consequence, many of the trainees became non-functional.
    by egl2020
  • Back in 2010 the situation was already extremely grim. Yes, they did test for tuberculosis upon intake and took blood samples for many hepatitis variants and possible a few other things. However, they let severe respiratory viruses run through everyone like wildfire for weeks without the slightest effort to prevent disease. They purposely let people get extremely cold and wet and didn't give a damn if people got sick. This is NOT new.
    by greenavocado
  • Chesterton's Fence strikes again
    by tantalor
  • I'm not sure "Chesterton's Fence" is an applicable fable/analogy when the fence has a big sign on it explaining exactly why it's there, and if you stop to look at it for a minute someone will come along and explain in great detail, answer all of your questions, and provide copious citations to the last several hundred years of public health and virology.
    by wiml
  • You've got to be able to deploy. Simple as that.
    by jimjimjim
  • "Under President [Donald J.] Trump, the War Department continues to take decisive action to once again restore freedom and strength to our joint force. We're seizing this moment to discard any absurd overreaching mandates that only weaken our warfighting capabilities." - Secretary Hegseth in April 2026

    War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

    by hackingonempty
  • Hegseth - renames "Department of Defense" to "Department of War", fights one war and loses.
    by ndsipa_pomu