Military Vaccine Deadline: Clash Begins With Troops Who Refuse Shots
Tuesday marked the military’s first deadline for all Air
Force and Space Force troops to receive the coronavirus vaccine. Following
months of patience, the punishments now begin.
The Air Force has discharged 40 service members and is now
preparing to address the thousands of others who failed to get a coronavirus
vaccination before the Nov. 1 deadline officials imposed, becoming the first
branch to execute what military leaders consider an essential protective measure
but one that critics believe will undermine America's ability to defend itself.
"Now that the deadline has passed, there's a clear line
to begin holding people accountable," Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek
tells U.S. News.
The population of discharged airmen and
"guardians" from the Space Force – the military's newest branch,
which falls under the Department of the Air Force – has been relatively new
trainees. Almost two dozen of them were in basic training when they refused to
take the vaccine, and the remaining 17 were undergoing technical training where
new enlistees learn their military specialties. Commanders at those schools
have a different standard of due process than those overseeing airmen and
guardians who have been in the service for years.
The Air Force faces a much more complex set of issues for
the remaining 10,000 or so troops who have still refused to receive the vaccine
or are otherwise currently unvaccinated. And the circumstances are myriad.
The Pentagon decided shortly after announcing its mandate
for troops that lower-level commanders would oversee the specifics of
implementing the new rule, acknowledging that, for example, the captain of a
submarine would have different requirements than someone overseeing computer
maintenance in the Army.
Some Air Force leaders have already instituted specific
mandates for troops in their units. Commanders overseeing the department's
Security Forces, for example, tasked with protecting military facilities and
some of the service's most valuable equipment, likely issued orders to their
subordinates to receive the vaccine on a particular date in advance of the
deadline as a way to maintain the integrity of their mission. Refusing to obey
that direct order even prior to Tuesday's deadline would have begun a clear-cut
process of counseling, forms of punishment such as demotion and, potentially, a
formal hearing and discharge under the Uniform Code of Military Justice – the
military's legal framework. However, all forced separations as of Monday had
been limited to the new enlistees.
Other circumstances are much less clear, such as lone airmen
or small groups in far-flung parts of the globe where they might not have
commanders nearby with clear intentions for mandating vaccines.
The largest group of those who remain unvaccinated appears
to come from those who have applied for exemptions. The Air Force has so far
declined to provide numbers or other details on this population but officials
are expected to release some limited information later this week. This group
includes those who have sought an exemption for medical concerns or what the
military calls "administrative exemptions," which could apply to a
service member who is about to retire.
However, a large portion of them are those claiming a
religious exemption, according to a source familiar with the exemption process.
Many, including Roman Catholics, have cited clear instructions from faith
leaders who said they should not have to receive the vaccine. Archbishop
Timothy Broglio, who oversees the Catholic diocese responsible for the military
services, gained widespread attention last month for decreeing that troops may
conscientiously object to the vaccine mandates and refuse a shot – an apparent
break from Pope Francis' urging since August for all Catholics to get
vaccinated as "an act of love." The pontiff has since questioned
vaccine skeptics, including some cardinals.
Others in the Air Force appear to be exploiting the
religious exemption process, using it as a forum to include any scrap of
information found on the internet to claim that the vaccines are not necessary
or perhaps even harmful, the source says.
Tuesday's deadline does not necessarily affect any of those
applications. Anti-vaccine advocates heralded a federal judge's ruling last
week that no government employee could be fired if they have a pending
application for exemption. However, that conclusion comports with existing
policy in the Air Force – and the other service branches – and so far has not
accounted for any changes to ongoing consideration of the exemptions.
The deadline does, though, solidify the military's path
toward collision with some of the most ardent opponents of President Joe
Biden's decision in April to impose the mandate on all federal employees,
including uniformed military personnel, civilian employees and private
contractors.
Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the
Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a scathing letter to Defense Secretary
Lloyd Austin two weeks ago demanding answers by Nov. 1 about the effect on the
military of the vaccine mandate – and potential personnel discharges.
"Although the actual costs associated with each of
these undertakings is certainly a cause for concern, the opportunity cost they
have and continue to visit on the force, its readiness, and morale is nothing
short of devastating – particularly in light of current threats," Inhofe
wrote.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday about the defense budget
bill, Inhofe added that the mandate "did irreparable damage by making
military people and those individuals that are not in the military but
necessary to keep this whole thing going ... did a great disservice to
them."
"We can't retain [military personnel] if people are
being threatened every day with losing their jobs for [something that] has
nothing to do with defending the nation," Inhofe said, flanked by most of
the other Republican members of the committee.
One of them, Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama – the state
with the eighth-worst vaccination rate in the country – called the military
mandate and threat of potential dishonorable discharge for violating it "the
stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"The American people need to sound off on this. This is
ridiculous. We know the virus is a problem, but you should check with your
doctor. I've had it. If you don't want to take it, that's fine,"
Tuberville said. "But these mandates are absolutely dividing our country,
and I think that's what the Democrats are trying to do."
The Defense Department did not respond immediately to
inquiries about whether and how it responded to Inhofe's request for more
information about the effect of the mandates.
However, several officials speaking on the condition of
anonymity indicated that the effects of the mandates are not yet entirely
certain, both on the military's current readiness and its future ability to
defend the nation.
And the Pentagon has been clear in its support for the
policy. John Kirby, a spokesman for Austin, on the same day Inhofe sent his
October letter said the defense secretary "remains comfortable with the
service-appropriate ways in which each military department is pursuing their
mandatory vaccination program. A vaccinated force is a protected force, better
able to deploy and to defend our interests around the world."
Kirby, speaking to reporters on Monday, added, "the
secretary's been very clear with the leaders of the military departments that
he wants them to execute the mandate with a sense of compassion and
understanding."
He repeated prior assertions that commanders have a wide
variety of options available to them to encourage troops to receive the vaccine
and how to pressure or formally discharge those who refuse, and he reiterated
that the secretary wants them to resolve for themselves how to use these tools.
"So can we promise you that there'll be absolute
uniformity across the board? No, and we wouldn't want to promise that because
it wouldn't be the same way we handle orders violations for other offenses, as
well," Kirby said. "This mandate will be handled in a compassionate
way and an understanding way, and that due counseling will be provided, both
from a medical perspective and from a leadership perspective, to members who
are declining to take the vaccine."
He added that 99 percent of sailors have received the
vaccine, followed by 97 percent of the Air Force, 93 percent of the Marine
Corps and that the Army "also is in the 90th percentile."
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