U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is back in the hospital, but this time he at least told his boss he was on the DL. Austin is in the critical care unit of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he’s being treated for an “emergent bladder issue,” according to the Pentagon spokesman.
This time around, instead of keeping the entire country, including his boss, Joe Biden, in the dark about his condition, he alerted the media and the boss that he was in the hospital but initially retained control of his office. Later on Sunday, the Sec Def turned over the operations of the Pentagon to his number two, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks.
The Pentagon said that Austin was receiving “supportive care” at Walter Reed. The National Cancer Institute explains, “Supportive care includes physical, psychological, social, and spiritual support for patients and their families. There are many types of supportive care. Examples include pain management, nutritional support, counseling, exercise, music therapy, meditation, and palliative care. Supportive care may be given with other treatments from the time of diagnosis until the end of life.”
Austin’s doctors, Dr. John Maddox, Trauma Medical Director, and Dr. Gregory Chesnut, Center for Prostate Disease Research of the Murtha Cancer Center Director, issued a statement about Austin’s prognosis.
At this time, it is not clear how long Secretary Austin will remain hospitalized. The current bladder issue is not expected to change his anticipated full recovery. His cancer prognosis remains excellent. Updates on the Secretary’s condition will be provided as soon as possible.
Austin is battling a two-front health war. He’s being treated for prostate cancer and now has suffered a seeming setback with this bladder situation, though his doctors say the bladder issue won’t hinder his recovery from cancer.
He’s got a big job. The U.S. is currently involved in multiple military operations around the world. U.S. Special Operations Forces were tasked to help Israel to help find hostages taken following the October 7 terror attack.
The Department of Defense is supplying weaponry and expertise to the Ukrainian military in its three-year-long war against Russian invaders.
The U.S. is running ops against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard-backed Houthi terror organization that has been attacking military and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. Three Navy SEALS died in those operations.
The U.S. military is investigating how an Iranian-made enemy drone was able to infiltrate air space over a U.S. post and blow up a small U.S. military installation in Jordan, killing three U.S. service members and maiming many more. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reports that the type of drones used by the Iran-backed Iraqi rebels responsible for this attack are also being used by Russia against Ukraine.
In December, Austin underwent surgery for prostate cancer and didn’t bother to tell anyone for a week. But nobody noticed. President Biden came to long enough to at least pretend to be upset about Austin’s insubordination. The episode seemed to telegraph that others in the Biden Administration have more input on its disastrous policies than Austin does.
After his secret hospitalization, the Pentagon’s inspector general issued a reminder to all the uniforms in the E-ring that he’d be reviewing “the roles, processes, procedures, responsibilities, and actions related to the secretary of defense’s hospitalization” to make sure this circus doesn’t happen again.
Austin was scheduled to travel to Brussels this week for a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.