{"id":1836466,"date":"2023-02-06T08:20:48","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T13:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1836466"},"modified":"2023-02-06T08:21:29","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T13:21:29","slug":"former-coast-guardsman-separated-for-refusing-vaccine-says-he-was-forced-to-pay-back-reenlistment-bonus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-coast-guardsman-separated-for-refusing-vaccine-says-he-was-forced-to-pay-back-reenlistment-bonus\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Coast Guardsman Separated for Refusing Vaccine Says He Was Forced to Pay Back Reenlistment Bonus"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/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%2Fformer-coast-guardsman-separated-for-refusing-vaccine-says-he-was-forced-to-pay-back-reenlistment-bonus%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=1836466&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-->\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/GettyImages-1232572644-1200x800-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>A former Coast Guard service member who was last year discharged for objecting to the Pentagon\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-vaccine-mandate\">vaccine mandate<\/a> A former officer said that he was required to repay a reenlistment reward. \u201can attempt to humiliate\u201d Members who were against the mandate for vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>Phil Southwell was a veteran of the country serving for over 13 years. He was then discharged in August because he objected to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-military\">Military<\/a> Once the Department of Defense (D0D), the Coast Guard adopted the vaccine mandate. On December 23, President Joe Biden signed Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) into Law. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/pentagon-has-rescinded-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-spokesman_4966613.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prescribed<\/a> The revocation of the mandate.<\/p>\n<p>However, this measure was not enough. \u201ctoo little, too late\u201d Southwell stated that he was being separated because he had been fired on Aug. 12. Southwell lost his job as operations specialist within days. A memo informed him that he must pay $18,000 in reenlistment bonuses starting 2019. At the time, he had signed up for an additional four-year reenlistment, but due to the military\u2019s actions against those who refused to take the vaccine, he was unable to finish a term of service that would have ended in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince I couldn\u2019t fulfill the final years of my last reenlistment after getting booted from the Coast Guard, I was immediately required to pay $18,000 back to Coast Guard with only a month\u2019s notice,\u201d He told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>Southwell recalled that the experience was a great learning opportunity. \u201cnot good,\u201d He added that he was \u201crather disgruntled about it.\u201d He considered himself fortunate because he had placed his reenlistment bonus funds into a retirement savings plan and an investment plan. \u201cBut I\u2019m sure there are people out there who didn\u2019t do this and had to spend the money right away, and that sickens me,\u201d He concluded.<\/p>\n<p>Fox News reported that U.S. service personnel who opposed the vaccine mandate were also required to repay recruitment bonuses. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/service-members-forced-pay-back-signing-bonuses-fired-covid-vax-kick-face\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Rocky Rogers, a former Coast Guard IT chief who has served more than 20-years, expressed concern at the reports. \u201c[It] blows my mind,\u201d He said. \u201cThe growing number of members who have had to pay back an enlistment\/reenlistment bonus is very concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rogers believes it \u201can attempt to humiliate\u201d Those who opposed the mandate for vaccines. \u201cAll in all, the military has done the most harm that they can do to members and that\u2019s to hurt them financially,\u201d He said. He spoke out in defense of the soldier. \u201cBonuses are supposed to be pro-rated in the event a member does not meet the entire Military Service Obligation of their contract.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u2018Leaders Are No Longer Leading\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Southwell was once a Coast Guard Coast Guard career obligation. Because he was a soldier, he joined the military. \u201cwanted to make a positive impact on our world and our country.\u201d He believed the Coast Guard was evolving in recent years, which was disappointing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the COVID vaccines came around, it really changed things,\u201d He said. He said that those who stood firm against the vaccine would be rewarded. \u201cmilitary leadership began treating us differently.\u201d Unvaccinated personnel were, for example, unable to leave the dock after their ship arrived at port on two-month deployments. \u201cWe had to send people out to get us the basic necessities that were needed during the long deployments,\u201d He said. \u201cWe basically felt like we were in prison for two months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that he also believed: \u201cwe were segregated into wearing N-95 masks when other vaccinated members were allowed privileges, such as wearing no masks at all, or regular cloth masks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Southwell also recalls seeing \u201ceverybody\u2019s name that was unvaccinated posted on the main passageway of the Cutter [a commissioned vessel] for all to see. Threatened that this may be a HIPPA violation, the list of unvaccinated service members was removed. \u201cBut the damage was already done,\u201d He said. He added that it was coercive and embarrassing.<\/p>\n<p>Southwell believes that the military is a good idea. \u201cleaders are no longer leading.\u201d \u201cLeadership is too bureaucratic and political, today,\u201d He said.<\/p>\n<p>He said that he was happy with the result. \u201cGetting discharged for refusing to get the jab was 100 percent the right decision, [as] I wouldn\u2019t be able to serve in today\u2019s Coast Guard which has turned its back on some of its most critical members.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times did not receive any inquiries from the Pentagon or Coast Guard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A former Coast Guard service member who was last year discharged for objecting to the Pentagon\u2019s vaccine mandate A former officer said that he was required to repay a reenlistment reward. \u201can attempt to humiliate\u201d Members who were against the mandate for vaccines. Phil Southwell was a veteran of the country serving for over 13 &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1836469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[16251,4189,6391,10347,5280,17755,7397,7398,3954],"class_list":["post-1836466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-bonus","tag-coast","tag-forced","tag-guardsman","tag-pay","tag-reenlistment","tag-refusing","tag-separated","tag-vaccine"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1836466","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=1836466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1836466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1836469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1836466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1836466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1836466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}