Fact Check: Yes, U.S. Army secretary said there is a soldier stationed on the moon. (There isn't)

Claim:
U.S. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll said: "We talked to an astronaut yesterday who's on the moon, who's a soldier."
Rating:
A rumor that the United States Army has a soldier stationed on the moon orbited social media in mid-June 2025 as a result of a statement allegedly made by U.S. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll.
The statement, shared by users on X (archived), Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and Reddit, was: "We talked to an astronaut yesterday who's on the moon, who's a soldier."
People were quick to share the purported quote, some decrying it as an obvious blunder while others believed Driscoll inadvertently shared confidential intelligence.
The quote about a soldier being stationed on the moon was correctly attributed to Driscoll, who made the comment during a Fox News appearance on June 11, 2025. The segment is available to watch on YouTube (at the 4:00 mark).
Driscoll's remark came in response to a question about the military parade planned for June 14, 2025, when host Brian Kilmeade asked the secretary about allegations that the parade was meant for U.S. President Donald Trump's birthday rather than a celebration of Flag Day and the Army's 250th anniversary.
The exchange began around three minutes into the segment. Driscoll said assertions the parade was celebrating Trump's birthday were "preposterous," adding:
The Army started planning this long in advance because what we believe is this will continue the strength and recruiting and retention that we have as young Americans across the country get to see all of the amazing things that the Army has done, whether it's helping with floods in North Carolina or wildfires in California, or we talked to an astronaut yesterday who's on the moon who's a soldier; including actually going to war and fighting to defend the freedoms that make our nation so great.
We think this is going to be an incredible opportunity for the Army to fill up our pipeline for the years to come and I find it offensive that anybody is challenging that.
Kilmeade offered no follow-up question to Driscoll's comment but it appeared the secretary misspoke. There is no evidence that an astronaut is currently stationed on the moon. NASA's website states that only 12 people have ever walked on the moon, while Royal Museums Greenwich in London notes that trips to the moon concluded in 1972.
However, Driscoll was part of a June 9, 2025, conversation with flight engineer Anne McClain, who is aboard the International Space Station.
According to McClain's biography on the NASA website, she is a U.S. Army colonel and "was selected in June 2013 as one of eight members of the 21st NASA astronaut class." McClain is currently deployed on the ISS as part of NASA Expedition 73, which began on April 19, 2025, and is expected to return in November 2025.
The conversation, which is available to watch on NASA's YouTube page, appeared to be what Driscoll's comment on Fox News was referring to, during which he said "on the moon" instead of, presumably, "in space" or "on the space station."
Snopes reached out to the Army for further clarification on Driscoll's comment. A spokesperson highlighted a post on the secretary's X account featuring the same conversation between Driscoll and McClain, indicating that he slipped up when speaking to Kilmeade.
- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq8EU96vvRE. Accessed 13 June 2025.
---. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41PnKOVp-ow. Accessed 13 June 2025.
Anne C. McClain - NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/people/anne-c-mcclain/. Accessed 13 June 2025.
Expedition 73 - NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/mission/expedition-73/. Accessed 13 June 2025.
Loe, Megan. 'Breaking down Craigslist Ad Seeking Seat Fillers on Day of Trump's DC Parade'. Snopes, 12 June 2025, https://www.snopes.com//news/2025/06/12/trump-craigslist-ad-dc-parade/.
'Military Parade to Celebrate the Army's 250th Anniversary Will Be Held on Trump's Birthday'. AP News, 2 May 2025, https://apnews.com/article/trump-army-military-parade-birthday-2f5cd12c8ccd4efddc29bfa3cf8f2705.
Moonwalkers - NASA Science. 13 Apr. 2023, https://science.nasa.gov/moon/moon-walkers/.
Veterans Invited to Celebrate U.S. Army's 250th Birthday - VA News. 11 June 2025, https://news.va.gov/140639/veterans-celebrate-u-s-armys-250th-birthday/.
Why Did We Stop Going to the Moon? | Royal Museums Greenwich. https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/space-astronomy/why-did-we-stop-going-moon. Accessed 13 June 2025.

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