Coronavirus: Thread

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Which worse... Forced Vax, or $860B Military...


Army Captain Separated From Service For Refusing Vaccine As House
Passes Bill That Rescinds Military’s Vaccine Mandate

https://www.theepochtimes.com/army-captain-separated-from-service-for-refusing-vaccine-as-house-passes-bill-that-rescinds-militarys-vaccine-mandate_4914829.html
https://www.theepochtimes.com/house-passes-858-billion-defense-funding-bill-with-termination-of-military-vaccine-mandate_4912087.html

An Army captain was separated from the service for refusing to take
the COVID-19 vaccine as the GOP attempts to roll back Secretary of
Defense Lloyd Austin’s military vaccine mandate.
A soldier watches another soldier receive his COVID-19 vaccination
from Army Preventive Medical Services in Fort Knox, Ky., on Sept. 9,
2021. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Capt. Stephen Rogerson (a pseudonym) has served in the Army for 17
years, and on Dec. 6, a three-person administrative board voted to
separate him from service. On the same day, the House passed an $858
billion defense funding bill, the National Defense Authorization Act
(NDAA) for the fiscal year 2023, that included a provision to rescind
the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

But soldiers like Rogerson are “falling through the cracks of a failed
policy at precisely the wrong time,” according to R. Davis Younts, an
Air Force Reserve Judge Advocate General (JAG) and civilian attorney.

In October 2021, Rogerson received a temporary medical exemption
through his primary care manager. Within two hours of submitting his
request for exemption to the vaccine to his command, it was denied.

“Rather than accepting my exemption, they gave it to the command
surgeon who overturned it and took measures to deny it—without the
authority or policy in place to do so,” he told The Epoch Times, using
a pseudonym for fear of reprisals.

“In addition to opposing the vaccine for medical concerns, I was
opposed to it because it came out so quickly and there was no way
possible to know its long-term side effects.” Thus, he took all
necessary steps to oppose the vaccine.

For this, Rogerson received a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand
in February, which was permanently filed into his record.

“Those things are going to be in my record, unless there’s some sort
of language requiring the military to take out the adverse actions
given to soldiers who refused to take the experimental vaccine,” he
said.

“While Congress taking action is a great thing, the language isn’t
clear,” Rogerson said.

According to Younts, “The latest language in the NDAA is compromised
language,” explaining that the agreement will only end the Department
of Defense’s (DoD) vaccine mandate, and does not address the issue of
the thousands of service members who have already been separated or
who have had adverse action taken against them due to their refusal to
take the vaccine.

If the NDAA is approved by the Senate and signed into law by President
Joe Biden, Austin would have 30 days to rescind the mandate.

“I know, firsthand, the military is continuing to push the vaccine and
boosters,” he said. “The Navy and Coast Guard, in particular, are
putting tremendous pressure on its members.”

Younts believes the “coercion” to get the vaccine will continue, even
if the mandate is rescinded.

He questioned whether “the DOD’s intent will be to continue to punish
and kick out those individuals who violated the supposed ‘lawful
order’ to get the vaccine while it was a mandate.”

The White House said including the provision in NDAA was “a mistake.”

“Making sure our troops are ready to defend this country and prepared
to do so, that remains the President’s priority, and the vaccine
requirement for COVID does just that,” John Kirby, National Security
Council coordinator for strategic communications, said during a press
briefing on Dec. 7.
A Whole New Fight

Service members in the Air Force, Marines, and Navy are currently
protected by a preliminary injunction that prohibits the respective
services from taking adverse actions against the unvaccinated.
Meanwhile, the Army and Coast Guard are subject to such restrictions.

“Without a change in the policy, soldiers could still be punished with
travel restrictions, other measures to prevent training and education,
and more,” Rogerson said. He expects “restrictive measures to remain
in place, depending on how the DoD treats the guidance that comes down
from Congress.”

To that end, Younts said, “There are still a lot of people in the Army
and Coast Guard that have a letter of reprimand in their file for
refusing the vaccine.” Many have not been promoted, have been
restricted from travel, and have had other actions taken against them,
he said.

“Because of this, the military’s position could be that [service
members] violated the initial order when it was a mandate, and they’re
still going to move to kick them out.”

Rescinding the vaccine mandate via the NDAA is “a small step,” Younts
said. “What’s going to force the DoD and Secretary of Defense Lloyd
Austin to change their policy and not punish or retaliate against
those who are in a refuser status, but their cases still haven’t been
processed to completion yet?”

Furthermore, the language of the NDAA does not reinstate thousands of
military members who have already been separated from the service.
“Congress has not required the DoD to address any of these issues,”
Younts pointed out.

“All it says is that as the NDAA goes into effect, the mandate doesn’t
exist anymore,” Younts explained. “Unless there’s more court action or
another intervention,” he said, “the DoD is still going to consider
the previous vaccine mandate a valid order, and those who refused that
order, they’re going to continue to be punished.”

Younts is also concerned about the current injunctions in place for
the Air Force, Marines, and Navy.

“For example, if the Air Force case goes to trial next year and we
lose, a whole bunch of these people already have a letter of reprimand
in their record or have had other adverse action taken against them,”
he said. And because of this, “The Air Force could still punch them
and kick them out for disobeying a so-called lawful order,” the
attorney added.

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