[News Figures] 'Blind Hospitalization' Shakes the US, Defense Secretary Austin

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who faced controversy over his "blind admission," retired as Central Command commander in 2016 and was appointed Secretary of Defense in January 2021 under the Biden administration. He is the first Black Secretary of Defense in U.S. history and the third Secretary of Defense to assume the position through a congressional waiver. According to the National Security Act of 1947, a military officer must be retired for seven years before becoming Secretary of Defense. Since Secretary Austin was nominated just four years after retirement, he required and received an exception approved by a Senate vote. Former Secretaries of Defense George Marshall (1950) and James Mattis (2017) also went through this process to assume the position.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who faced controversy over a secretive hospitalization. Secretary Austin is delivering the keynote speech at the Korea-UN Member States Defense Ministers Meeting held at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on November 14 last year. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Secretary Austin was born in Alabama in 1953 and raised in Georgia. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1975, he established himself as a Middle East expert through his service in key Middle Eastern regions such as Afghanistan and Yemen. He also earned a degree in education from Auburn University and a master's degree in business administration from Webster University.

As the sixth Black four-star general in the U.S. military, he set numerous records within a predominantly white military leadership. In 2012, he became the first Black Army Vice Chief of Staff, and in 2013, he was appointed the first Black Central Command commander. He is also the only U.S. Army general to have experienced both the beginning and end of the Iraq War, from its start in 2003 to the withdrawal in 2011.

His connection with President Joe Biden began in 2010. When Austin became the commander of U.S. forces stationed in Iraq, then-Vice President Biden attended his inauguration ceremony in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Secretary Austin was hospitalized due to surgical complications from the 1st (local time) until the 7th, but it was reported that President Biden was unaware of this fact for three days, sparking strong criticism in American society. Typically, when a high-ranking official or military personnel is hospitalized in the U.S., a statement is issued within 24 hours.