AN aide to United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requested a 911 operator for the ambulance transporting him to the hospital be discreet, according to the call.
The call was made from Austin’s home in Virginia at around 7:15pm local time and the ambulance arrived seven minutes later.
It can be remembered that the 70-year-old Pentagon chief was discharged from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday after being re-admitted to intensive care without the knowledge of President Joe Biden.
To note, the US president is the commander-in-chief of the US military but linking the two is the Defense Secretary.
Not even Pentagon leaders nor the national security adviser was informed about Austin’s health situation.
“It is not optimal for a situation like this to go as long as it did without the commander-in-chief knowing about it or the national security adviser knowing about it, or frankly other leaders at the Department of Defense,” according to John Kirby, US National Security Adviser.
Austin’s duties require him to be ready at a moment’s notice especially to respond to any national security crisis.
Diseases and hospitalizations are sensitive affairs when it comes to world leaders and officials.
That is why the Pentagon inspector general was prompted to investigate Austin’s hospitalization due to unavailability of senior leadership.
To recall, the White House was without a Secretary of Defense for 3 days at a crucial time for the US when strikes were being launched in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on the 6th of January, Austin said he understands the media concerns about transparency and recognized he could have done better to ensure the public was appropriately informed.
He added that he commits to doing better.
