The Army is reportedly doubling down on penalizing soldiers who refuse to get vaccinated by halting promotions, prohibiting off-base travel, and enforcing involuntary terminations because they refuse to violate their deeply held religious beliefs.
An Army spokesperson is claiming that unvaccinated soldiers are “subject to certain adverse administrative actions,” according to Fox News.
“Soldiers who refuse the order to be vaccinated without an approved or pending exemption request are subject to certain adverse administrative actions, including flags, bars to continued service, and official reprimands (GOMORS),” the spokesperson allegedly contended.
Fox News is reporting that only 44 religious exemptions to the COVID vaccine out of 4,664 that were requested by active-duty soldiers were granted according to the Army’s public coronavirus statistics.
One major in Army Special Operations bluntly called it a “technique of coercion” that is being used by the military to force voluntary retirements. He served in Kabul, Afghanistan last year as President Biden conducted his catastrophic withdrawal from the country. The major has served nearly 11 years in the Army and has seen three combat deployments.
“What [the Army] is doing, it’s a technique of coercion to stall people’s careers, to force voluntary retirements, voluntary exits,” he asserted. “In my case, I could be a year behind my peers, and that will have devastating results when it comes to my next promotion.”
He also claimed that because he refused the jab that he is being kept from obtaining his master’s degree at Liberty University, which will, in effect, stall his career.
“My career is still being stalled. They can’t claim it’s because I’m in the process of having a religious accommodation approved or reviewed, because that in and of itself is religious discrimination,” he charged. “And they are cleverly crafting cases. So it appears as if they’re simply losing a higher rate of people to natural exit, not tying it to COVID or their policies. So I was intentionally trying to use the entitlements that I’ve earned and to demonstrate how they are in breach of contract and actively preventing their own officers’ advancement.”
Everything this administration touches turns into a disaster
— Super Duper Secret (@full_mount727) October 3, 2022
Another service member who has been in the Army for ten years claims he lost a promotion opportunity over refusing vaccination, according to Fox News.
“I haven’t been made a platoon leader, and all my peers have, and I also have missed three training events that required travel,” he noted.
“The extended period has caused a lot of uncertainty in my own life and my family’s life. I’m married with three kids. And so I don’t know if I’m going to have a job in a year, despite having served for 10 years already. And so just overall, this whole process has prevented me from advancing in my career,” he stated.
“It’s troubling being in limbo like this,” another service member commented. “First off, with the Army not acknowledging your First Amendment rights and issues, they have to guard. But second, just not knowing at what point you’re going to get the boot and need to have that income stream in order to not get foreclosed on, or what have you.”
I’m thankful I’m retired form the Army but I feel bad for those that are currently serving. Weak leadership from the top down. We need more alpha males in leadership.
— Russ (@TheBigRuss77) October 3, 2022
“The most troubling piece” of the entire process, he continued, is that soldiers were warned against submitting religious exemptions because if their faith was found to be “insincere” by the Army, they could be subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
“It’s coercion,” he accused. “I’m frustrated as a service member, but I am appalled as a taxpayer in how much time and money the Department of Defense has wasted on this.”
He also took issue constitutionally with the boilerplate language in the denials.
“I do not believe that it was a mere coincidence that every commander used the same verbiage (including the same punctuation) in the chain of command recommendations for the religious accommodation requests. It seems there was a template pushed down through the legal channels with an emphasis to recommend disapproval. The Surgeon General then uses the chain of command recommendations to justify his denial of the religious accommodation requests. It seems there has been a gross violation of the requirement to actually consider each individual request in accordance with the law,” he said.
Funny how “my body my choice” only works for Democrats.
— Smitty (@Smith79W) October 3, 2022
The Pentagon’s watchdog recently stated that the Department of Defense is in “potential noncompliance” with standards for reviewing and denying religious exemptions to the vaccine mandate, according to a report obtained by Fox News in September.
A number of the soldiers who spoke with the media outlet have written to their local congressmen and senators who have launched congressional inquiries on their behalf.
“While I encourage everyone who is medically able to get vaccinated, I think it’s unacceptable that soldiers are being kicked out of the Army for refusing the vaccine—especially given the vaccine doesn’t prevent transmission,” Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) told Fox News Digital in an interview.
“Our Army is struggling to recruit and retain members. Instead of implementing unnecessary vaccine requirements and leaning into woke culture, the Army should shift its focus to strengthen our forces,” she contended.
Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- Walmart begins nixing self-checkouts and returning to ‘traditional’ lanes – here’s why - April 24, 2024
- ‘A real failure’: DeSantis slams Johnson, GOP House, says they ‘capitulated entirely on the border’ - April 24, 2024
- ‘Keep the John Boltons of the world outside’: Don Jr., Eric Trump take charge of transition team - April 24, 2024
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
