{"id":75119,"date":"2024-02-01T17:31:38","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T17:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/02\/01\/austin-admits-he-wanted-to-keep-his-cancer-diagnosis-secret\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:08:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:08:50","slug":"austin-admits-he-wanted-to-keep-his-cancer-diagnosis-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2024\/02\/01\/austin-admits-he-wanted-to-keep-his-cancer-diagnosis-secret\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin admits he wanted to keep his cancer diagnosis secret"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Thursday, during his first Pentagon briefing in two years, that he did not direct his staff to conceal his January hospitalization<\/a> from the president or the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did concede that he is a private person and that he did not initially want to share his cancer diagnosis, adding that while he doesn\u2019t believe he has created a culture of secrecy in his office, that his staff might have felt they were acting in his best interest<\/a> by concealing his health status for days after he went into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1 with symptoms of a blood infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned from this experience, taking this kind of job means losing some of the privacy that most of us expect,\u201d Austin said. \u201cThe American people have a right to know when their leaders are facing health challenges that might affect their ability to perform their duties, even temporarily.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while Austin didn\u2019t give his staff instructions on how to handle his absence, he conceded that \u201cI think there will be security officers … other staff members who may perceive that they\u2019re doing things in my best interest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also called the failure to notify the president about his condition \u201ca mistake.\u201d The White House learned on Jan. 4 that Austin had been hospitalized, and on Jan. 9, learned that he had been treated for cancer when the Pentagon made the public announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAgain, it\u2019s more about privacy than secrecy,\u201d Austin said. \u201cIn my case, I should have informed my boss. I did not. That was a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His prostate cancer diagnosis in early December \u201cshook\u201d him, Austin said \u2015 particularly as the illness disproportionately affects Black men, at a rate of one in six versus one in eight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrankly, my first instinct was to keep it private,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t