222 American service members are sick. And it didn't have to happen.

In April, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ended the military's mandatory flu vaccination requirement, calling it an "absurd, overreaching mandate" that undermined "medical autonomy." Less than two months later, an influenza outbreak has swept through the 37th Training Wing at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, one of the highest-throughput military training units in the country, processing more than 36,000 recruits every year.

The number of infected troops has nearly doubled in a single week.

This isn't a debate about politics. It's a question of whether our military is ready to fight.

Even Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Hegseth's decision a "mistake," saying the flu shot had kept the armed forces healthier throughout his own years of active duty and service as a reservist.

When a Republican senator who chairs the Armed Services Committee and a Democratic congressman whose district includes the affected base are saying the same thing, Washington should listen.

Flu vaccines have been standard military practice for decades, not because of ideology, but because sick troops can't train, can't deploy, and can't defend this country. Weakening disease prevention in the name of "medical autonomy" doesn't make our military stronger. It makes it more vulnerable.

We call on Secretary Hegseth and the Department of Defense to immediately restore the mandatory flu vaccination requirement for active duty service members.

Protect our troops. Restore the mandate.