{"id":1553925,"date":"2022-07-14T07:51:31","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T11:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1553925"},"modified":"2022-07-14T09:06:55","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T13:06:55","slug":"over-260000-troops-not-fully-vaccinated-many-face-discharge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/over-260000-troops-not-fully-vaccinated-many-face-discharge\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 260,000 Troops Not Fully Vaccinated &#8211; Many Face Discharge"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fover-260000-troops-not-fully-vaccinated-many-face-discharge%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1553925&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">At least 260,000\u00a0American troops \u2014 or about 13\u00a0percent of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.janes.com\/defence-news\/news-detail\/pentagon-budget-2023-dod-to-trim-military-end-strength\">2.1<b> <\/b>million total force<\/a> \u2014 are not fully vaccinated despite a Biden administration vaccine mandate for the military, and many of them could face discharge.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Department of Defense website, at least\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/Spotlights\/Coronavirus-DOD-Response\/\">268,858 service members as of July 13<\/a>\u00a0are still not in compliance with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin\u2019s August 2021 mandate for every member of the military to be fully vaccinated with two doses of a vaccine. That figure does not count the thousands who have not taken any doses.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Only about 20,000 of the more than 260,000 have received a temporary or permanent exemption, according to the latest statistics provided by the services. That means the rest face discharge from the military at a time the services are struggling to find new recruits.<\/p>\n<p>So far, there have been 95 military deaths from coronavirus, with 412,766 who have had it and recovered, according to DOD <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/Spotlights\/Coronavirus-DOD-Response\/\">statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Berry, a Marine reservist and general counsel for First Liberty, who is representing service members seeking religious exemptions, said in a statement to Breitbart News:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Losing nearly 270,000 troops would devastate our military. That\u2019s more than twice as many U.S. troops than died during World War I from all causes, and almost as many as died in combat during World War II. Our adversaries\u00a0are probably delighted to see the Pentagon eliminate more troops than they ever could.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Religious accommodation requests have only been granted for troops who were already leaving the military, according to Berry.<\/p>\n<p>It is unclear whether DOD will indeed discharge or merely discipline every single service member not in compliance with Austin\u2019s order, but to date the military services have\u00a0kicked out around 6,431 members, according to the latest available statistics. The Marine Corps led with at least 3,069 discharges. The Navy has been blocked from discharging any sailor who filed a religious exemption request due to a court injunction.<\/p>\n<p>The discharges have been either general or honorable, after Republicans and some Democrats fought to take dishonorable discharges off the table. Still, a discharge that is not an honorable discharge means loss of benefits and a permanent record that indicates the discharge was possibly due to misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>The Army National Guard and Army Reserve recently acknowledged that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2022\/07\/06\/tens-of-thousands-of-part-time-soldiers-face-discharge-for-missing-covid-vax-deadline\/\">as many as 60,000 soldiers<\/a> \u2014 or about 12% of their force \u2014 are not fully vaccinated, and unless they have an approved or pending exemption, can no longer drill or be paid for it as of July 1.<\/p>\n<p>For the Army National Guard, it is about 40,000 soldiers, and for the Army Reserve, it is about 21,360 soldiers who cannot drill, be paid, or be deployed on a federal status.\u00a0Unvaccinated reservists without exemptions can still conduct state missions, but the Army said they still face discharge.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Army <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/258107\">announced<\/a> in a press release:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Beginning July 1, 2022, members of the Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve who have refused the lawful [Department of Defense] COVID-19 vaccination order without an approved or pending exemption may not participate in federally funded drills and training and will not receive pay or retirement credit.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>In the future, Soldiers who continue to refuse the vaccination order without an exemption may be subject to additional adverse administrative action, including separation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While the DOD has argued that mandating all troops be fully vaccinated is a readiness issue, the\u00a0director of the National Guard recently told the Associated Press that if 40,000 soldiers are not in compliance, there are readiness issues associated with that, too.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhen you\u2019re looking at 40,000 soldiers that potentially are in that unvaccinated category, absolutely there\u2019s readiness implications on that and concerns associated with that,\u201d Army Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/news\/your-army\/2022\/06\/26\/army-guard-troops-risk-dismissal-as-vaccine-deadline-looms\/\">told<\/a> the AP. \u201cThat\u2019s a significant chunk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As far as when the Army National Guard or Army Reserve would begin discharging soldiers, the Army National Guard referred Breitbart News to the Army, and the Army Reserve said in a vague statement:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The Army Reserve\u2019s priority is vaccinating all Soldiers to maintain readiness. Commanders are working through a deliberate process in as few as two days per month with geographically dispersed Soldiers to ensure they become fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Center for a New American Security expert Nathalie Grogan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2022\/07\/06\/tens-of-thousands-of-part-time-soldiers-face-discharge-for-missing-covid-vax-deadline\/\">told<\/a> the <em>Military Times\u00a0<\/em>in an interview that the Army needs to brace for the operational impact of discharging a \u201cpretty significant\u201d number of troops, pointing out that it leaves fewer soldiers who can conduct federal missions.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201c[It\u2019s] just a snowball effect of hurting readiness immediately [for federal missions] and then down the road [for state missions],\u201d she told the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>The issue has caught the attention of Republicans, who are currently a minority in the House and Senate. However, if Republicans retake either chamber of Congress, they will have more leverage in mitigating or even reversing the mandate.<\/p>\n<p>As Breitbart News previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/04\/06\/general-milley-downplays-kickingout-troops-vaccine-mandate\/\">reported<\/a>, Navy reservist Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) confronted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley over the discharges during a hearing in April, where Milley downplayed the effect they would have on the military.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe numbers are very low, by the way, of those that are refusing to be vaccinated, and they\u2019re even lower,\u201d Milley told Banks. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s tiny the numbers that are actually being asked to process out. So I think it\u2019s manageable, and I think that I would prefer that everybody just go ahead and get vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Banks, who also chairs the Republican Study Committee, tweeted Milley\u2019s response recently, along with a link to a report showing that tens of thousands of soldiers face discharge.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;It\u2019s tiny the numbers that are actually being asked to process out. So I think it\u2019s manageable.&#8221;\u2013General Milley to me during his Armed Services testimony in April.  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mnNSYt7E8h\">https:\/\/t.co\/mnNSYt7E8h<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepJimBanks\/status\/1545050761435852803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Republicans are still fighting to end the mandate, although since they are in the minority, they have been limited as to what they can do.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/06\/23\/gops-call-for-firing-defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-over-vaccine-mandate-dems-and-cheney-opposed\/\">proposed<\/a> an amendment that would have revoked a congressional waiver allowing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to serve, since he had not surpassed the requisite time a general officer must be out of uniform before serving as defense secretary, if he did not end the mandate. Democrats and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) voted the amendment down.<\/p>\n<p>Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) also proposed additional amendments, but both of their amendments were ruled out of order by the Democrat-controlled House Rules Committee and not given a vote.<\/p>\n<p>Roy told Breitbart News in an interview Wednesday, \u201cThey didn\u2019t want to have a vote on my amendment because I think my amendment would probably pass and that\u2019s not politically palatable for the hard left who are totally comfortable in continuing to oppress the American people with these mandates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s unconscionable what we\u2019re doing to our service members,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Roy called for all Republicans to vote against the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, a massive yearly defense bill that authorizes the DOD\u2019s activities and spending, since it does not end the mandate.<\/p>\n<p>He tweeted, \u201cProud to stand with @freedomcaucus to #OpposeNDAA unless we get real fixes\u2026 STARTING with the need to #EndVaxMandates crushing military recruiting\u2026 or to #BanCRT to take steps to end wokeism at DoD. Where is @HouseGOP?\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Proud to stand with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/freedomcaucus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@freedomcaucus<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OpposeNDAA?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#OpposeNDAA<\/a> unless we get real fixes\u2026 STARTING with the need to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EndVaxMandates?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EndVaxMandates<\/a> crushing military recruiting\u2026 or to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BanCRT?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BanCRT<\/a> to take steps to end wokeism at DoD.  Where is <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HouseGOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@HouseGOP<\/a>? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rwLssIn1N8\">https:\/\/t.co\/rwLssIn1N8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chip Roy (@chiproytx) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chiproytx\/status\/1547261601048313858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Massie also blasted Democrats for not allowing a vote on his amendment and thanked his 23 Republican cosponsors.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Last night the rules committee, controlled by Nancy Pelosi, refused to allow the House of Representatives to vote on my National Defense Authorization Act amendment which would have defunded the military COVID-19 vaccine mandate.<\/p>\n<p>(Continued\u2026)<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepThomasMassie\/status\/1547203577315303424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Rep. John Rose (R-TN), who cosponsored Massie\u2019s amendment, tweeted, \u201cThe president needs to stop putting partisan, left-wing politics ahead of our military\u2019s readiness.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I&#8217;m proud to cosponsor <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepThomasMassie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RepThomasMassie<\/a>&#8216;s bill, which would prohibit any vaccine requirement for a member of the Armed Forces. <\/p>\n<p>The president needs to stop putting partisan, left-wing politics ahead of our military&#8217;s readiness. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Jb3H6U5THn\">https:\/\/t.co\/Jb3H6U5THn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 John Rose (@RepJohnRose) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepJohnRose\/status\/1545056768706744324?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Other Republicans have also blasted the vaccine mandate at a time when the military is facing historic recruiting shortfalls. As Breitbart News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/03\/30\/army-reducing-its-numbers-in-face-of-recruiting-difficulties\/\">previously reported<\/a>, the Army announced it was reducing its size due to recruiting difficulties for the first time in its history.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is what happens when politically driven policy creates far worse problems than the ones it was trying to fix. Let\u2019s lay this out. <\/p>\n<p>THREAD <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AeSqJXXggg\">pic.twitter.com\/AeSqJXXggg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DanCrenshawTX\/status\/1545445240353558531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 8, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">? good judgement 4 Commander in Chief to cut 60K forces at once, at time of war in Ukraine &#038; global aggressions and 4 this reason? Crazy! <br \/>Army Cuts Off More Than 60K Unvaccinated Guard and Reserve Soldiers from Pay and Benefits | <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VHKjaGlT3Q\">https:\/\/t.co\/VHKjaGlT3Q<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1dyk3GZuOT\">https:\/\/t.co\/1dyk3GZuOT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dr. Miller-Meeks (@millermeeks) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/millermeeks\/status\/1545230300820967424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 8, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A woke military only serves our adversaries. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1MIPJ94sdF\">https:\/\/t.co\/1MIPJ94sdF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/laurenboebert\/status\/1545767206545510400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">New reports indicate that our military is facing the biggest recruiting crisis since 1973. <\/p>\n<p>One step that the Biden Administration could take TODAY would be to rescind the vaccine mandate and re-enlist any servicemember kicked out for exercising their right to medical freedom.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepBrianMast\/status\/1545741305036390402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe U.S. Army is getting rid of the best of the best,\u201d\u00a0Andrew Crapuchettes, CEO of RedBalloon, a company that links anti-vaccine mandate job seekers with prospective employers, said in an email statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe kinds of service members who are courageous, have a backbone, and think critically are the kinds of service members that we need to defend our freedoms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur military continues to struggle with recruitment. Perhaps, potential service members aren\u2019t willing to risk the threat of woke policies,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re putting a bullet in the recruitment process, and the guns aimed the wrong way. Deep-six the policies, not the military!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Breitbart News\u2019s Kristina Wong on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/kristina_wong\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kristinawongreporting\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At least 260,000\u00a0American troops \u2014 or about 13\u00a0percent of the\u00a02.1 million total force \u2014 are not fully vaccinated despite a Biden administration vaccine mandate for the military, and many of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1554116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1553925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1553925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1554116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1553925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1553925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1553925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}