On Sunday, a Pentagon statement released by Maj Gen Pat Ryder did not provide any details about the medical procedure or what actually happened to require Austin to be in intensive care at Walter Reed.

Austin said in a statement on Saturday that he took “full responsibility” for the secrecy surrounding his hospitalisation. The Pentagon said on Sunday that the delay in disclosing his whereabouts was at least partially due to Austin’s chief of staff being off sick. Such secrecy, when the US is juggling myriad national security crises, runs counter to normal practice with regards to notifying the president and other senior US officials and cabinet members. The Pentagon’s failure to disclose Austin’s hospitalisation for days, including to Biden, the National Security Council and top Pentagon leaders, reflects a stunning lack of transparency about his illness, how serious it was and when he may be released. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Charles “CQ” Brown, learned of the hospitalisation on Tuesday 2 January, one US official said. That includes always being ready to enter secure communications with other officials in the event of an incoming nuclear attack – something that would be difficult to do from an ICU bed.Īt least some circles in the Pentagon were aware of Austin’s situation earlier. Hicks was in Puerto Rico on leave but had communications equipment with her to remain in contact and had already been tasked with some secretary-level duties by Tuesday 2 January.Īustin sits just below Biden at the top of the chain of command of the US military, and his duties require him being available at a moment’s notice to respond to any national security crisis. That is the same day that Biden and other senior White House officials were told that Austin had been hospitalised since Monday 1 January, five officials said.

But Hicks was not told why Austin was unavailable until Thursday 4 January, three officials told Reuters. Then on Monday 1 January, Austin, who is 70, had to be admitted to intensive care at Walter Reed military hospital in Maryland after experiencing severe pain.ĭeputy defence secretary Kathleen Hicks assumed some of his operational duties on Tuesday 2 January, while she was on vacation in Puerto Rico, a US official said.

Chief in command