Unvaccinated Air Force Officers Grounded Despite Court Order: Former Space Force Lt. Colonel

Members of the Air Force have been grounded for refusing to take a COVID-19 shot even after a court order ruling against such actions said a former space force commander on Sept. 15, adding that it is “not the time to be tampering with our readiness.”

Roughly two months back, a federal court in Ohio stated that the Air Force is not legally justified in taking punitive action against service members who do not take the COVID-19 vaccine, Matt Lohmeier, former Space Force Lieutenant Colonel, said in an interview with “Capitol Report” on NTD News.

A preliminary injunction was also issued. Lohmeier gave an example of a Squadron Leader in a fighter squadron at the Air Force who had been grounded and removed from his post following his decision not to take a COVID-19 shot.

Neither the squadron leader nor other members who he is aware of have been allowed to return back to flying status Lohmeier said.

“Our senior defense officials seem uninterested in abiding by law,” he said. “We’ve got over 700 pilots potentially on the chopping block right now for their refusal to take the shot.”

The mandatory vaccination rule itself is illegal since the COVID-19 vaccine available in many instances has only been approved under emergency use authorization (EUA), Lohmeier said.

Many service members “across all branches of the military” have objected to these vaccines, amounting to thousands of personnel.

Back in 2019, the Chief Staff of the Air Force had publicly admitted that the United States was facing a pilot crisis due to a shortage of 1,650 pilots, he said.

“That problem hasn’t been fixed or gotten any better since 2019.”

“At a time of great power competition, potentially with China and Russia,” Lohmeier said, it is “not the time to be tampering with our readiness.”