{"id":952786,"date":"2021-11-02T08:58:43","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T12:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=952786"},"modified":"2021-11-02T08:58:45","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T12:58:45","slug":"exclusive-marine-corps-commanders-using-form-letter-to-deny-religious-exemptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-marine-corps-commanders-using-form-letter-to-deny-religious-exemptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Marine Corps Commanders Using Form Letter to Deny Religious Exemptions"},"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\">22<\/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%2Fexclusive-marine-corps-commanders-using-form-letter-to-deny-religious-exemptions%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=952786&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--><p class=\"subheading\">Marine Corps commanders across different commands are using the same form letter to deny religious accommodation requests for the coronavirus vaccine, despite a legal requirement to consider each request on an individual basis, according to more than a dozen denial letters viewed by Breitbart News.<\/p>\n<p>The use of the same form letter suggests blanket denials across the service regardless of individual circumstances and testimony, according to one lawyer assisting hundreds of service members seeking religious exemptions.<\/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>\u201cThey\u2019re all identical, every single one of them. It\u2019s evidence that they\u2019re not evaluating them on an individual basis, which is what the regulations and federal law require, and it\u2019s like somebody just issued a template, and they\u2019re just rubber-stamping them,\u201d said Mike Berry, general counsel for First Liberty and Marine reservist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese don\u2019t address the specific circumstances of their request,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Marine Corps policy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marines.mil\/Portals\/1\/Publications\/MCO%201730.9.pdf?ver=EEMe3SQH2P9-Z4Bs1GIwtQ%3d%3d\">states<\/a> that \u201cthe burden of proof is placed upon the Marine Corps, not the individual requesting the exemption\u201d and that \u201ccommanders making final determinations on requests will consider, with appropriate annotation on the determination, the elements of mission accomplishment that form the basis of the compelling governmental interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>It adds, \u201cEach request for religious accommodation must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, giving consideration to the full range of facts and circumstances relevant to the specific request. It is essential that commanders articulate the factual basis underlying their decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18557818\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"43\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Marines-Pose.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18557818\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Marines-Pose.jpeg\" alt=\"U.S. Marines Sgt. Maj. James Robertson, left, the sergeant major of Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, Col. Mikel Huber, center, the commanding officer of MCAS Cherry Point, and Lt. Col. Patrick Lindstrom, right, the executive officer of MCAS Cherry Point, pose after receiving the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, on Dec. 23, 2020. The Department of Defense COVID-19 vaccination plan is phased. The vaccine received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration and election to accept the vaccination is voluntary. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jacob Bertram)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Marines Sgt. Maj. James Robertson, left, Col. Mikel Huber, center, and Lt. Col. Patrick Lindstrom, right, pose after receiving the Moderna coronavirus vaccine at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, on December 23, 2020.&nbsp; (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jacob Bertram)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Yet, each denial letter viewed by Breitbart News is identical except for the name and unit of the requester, date of the request, and officer denying the request.&nbsp;The letters are all signed by Marine Lt. Gen. David Ottignon,&nbsp;deputy commandant of Manpower &amp; Reserve Affairs for the Marine Corps. In some cases, they are signed \u201cfor\u201d Ottignon by Michael Strobl, assistant deputy commandant for Manpower &amp; Reserve Affairs.<\/p>\n<p>The denial letters were the same for a Marine who requested religious accommodation due to a miscarriage and a Marine who had been a practicing Christian for at least 13 years, according to religious accommodation request packets reviewed by Breitbart News.<\/p>\n<p>In the first case, the Marine\u2019s commanding officer, a<b>&nbsp;<\/b>Navy commander, wrote that he had interviewed her and that she was \u201cdevastated by the loss of her child to miscarriage and is still struggling to make sense of this tragedy.\u201d The commander added, \u201cConsequently, it is my opinion, [name redacted] is severely uncertain in her ability to become pregnant and believes at this time her conscience will not permit her to receive the vaccine and potentially place her fertility in jeopardy.\u201d:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"9\">\n<p>For that reason, [name redacted] believes receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is a violation to her conscience and therefore is requesting religious accommodation. \u2026 The service member is devoted to her moral principles and appears very sincere in considering this decision to request religious accommodation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In the second case, the Marine wrote in his request, \u201cI am a devout Christian, and receiving the Covid-19 vaccine would violate my deeply and sincerely held religious beliefs and create a substantial burden on me.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>His request was accompanied by a personal statement from a retired Marine attesting to his faith, as well as a statement from his senior pastor, who attested that the Marine belongs to a congregation opposed to vaccines that would cause a person to violate his or her sincerely-held religious beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>Both of their requests were denied with the same form letter that contained the same language, one signed by Strobl and the other by Ottignon.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Marines came from all across the Marine Corps, including from Yuma, AZ, Camp Lejeune, NC, and Marine Special Operations Command.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my opinion, it\u2019s an orchestrated effort,\u201d Berry said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><a title=\"View Marine Request and Denial on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/536538244\/Marine-Request-and-Denial#from_embed\">Marine Request and Denial 1<\/a> by <a title=\"View Breitbart News&#039;s profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/publisher\/298980670\/Breitbart-News#from_embed\">Breitbart News<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"View Marine Request and Denial 2 on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/536539275\/Marine-Request-and-Denial-2#from_embed\">Marine Request and Denial 2<\/a> by <a title=\"View Breitbart News&#039;s profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/publisher\/298980670\/Breitbart-News#from_embed\">Breitbart News<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Marine Corps, when asked if requests for religious accommodation were being considered individually and given individualized responses, said in a statement:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"8\">\n<p>Marines who request exemption due to religious accommodation will have their request forwarded to Manpower and Reserve Affairs for adjudication. All current exemption requests are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Each request will be given full consideration with respect to the facts and circumstances submitted in the request.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As to whether the Marine Corps has approved any requests for religious accommodation, it said, \u201cWe will publish a consolidated report of the number of approved exemptions once the deadline for vaccination has passed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Berry said he is not aware of any religious accommodation requests that have been granted for any service.&nbsp;According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.military.com\/daily-news\/2021\/10\/25\/marine-corps-makes-it-clear-get-vaccine-or-get-out.html\">Military.com<\/a>, the Marine Corps has not approved any religious accommodation requests as of October 20.<\/p>\n<p>The Navy, which has a separate process, confirmed in a statement to Breitbart News on Friday that it has received religious accommodation requests but has also not approved any.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18557290\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"40\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Marine-Vaccine-1.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18557290\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Marine-Vaccine-1.jpeg\" alt=\"U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Alen Ford, an airframes mechanic with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, 2nd Marine Aircraft Group, receives the coronavirus vaccine at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, February 11, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jesus Sepulveda Torres)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Alen Ford, an airframes mechanic with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, 2nd Marine Aircraft Group, receives the coronavirus vaccine at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, February 11, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jesus Sepulveda Torres)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cTo date, multiple religious accommodation requests related to the COVID vaccine mandate have been adjudicated and none have yet been approved,\u201d a Navy spokesman said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The spokesman added, \u201cIn the past seven years, no religious exemption from vaccination waivers were approved for any other vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-message_kit__blocks c-message_kit__blocks--rich_text\">\n<div class=\"c-message__message_blocks c-message__message_blocks--rich_text\">\n<div class=\"p-block_kit_renderer\" data-qa=\"block-kit-renderer\">\n<div class=\"p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper--first\" readability=\"8\">\n<div class=\"p-rich_text_block\" dir=\"auto\" readability=\"36\">\n<p>He said there have been five permanent medical exemptions granted, however, for conditions that permanently affect an individual such as an allergy to the vaccine. He also said there have been temporary administrative exemptions granted but declined to give a number.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The deadline for active duty and reservist Marines to be fully vaccinated is November 28 and December 28 respectively.&nbsp;The Marine Corps is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/10\/25\/usmc-warns-marines-will-be-kicked-out-for-refusing-the-vaccine\/\">already warning it will separate Marines<\/a> who are not fully vaccinated by the deadlines.<\/p>\n<p>As of October 20, 17% of Marines were not fully vaccinated, and 8% had not received any vaccine dosages, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.military.com\/daily-news\/2021\/10\/25\/marine-corps-makes-it-clear-get-vaccine-or-get-out.html\">Military.com<\/a>. As for the Navy, 7% were not fully vaccinated, and 2% have not received any vaccine dosages.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, journalist Liz Wheeler posted a series of tweets alleging that the Navy was issuing blanket denials to requests for religious accommodations.&nbsp;Wheeler posted two nearly identical denial memos to two separate religious accommodation requests at the same unit.<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler alleged that a Navy commander\u2019s boss, a Navy captain, provided her with a standard denial memo and instructed her to use it for all requests at her command.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"11.389380530973\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">6\/ In this case, CAPT Marc Ratkus, who is CO of Center for Information Warfare Training &amp; CDR Schley&#8217;s boss, provided a standard denial memo to CDR Schley and instructed her to use it for all requests at her command. It even had his letterhead and signature on it. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JDWXWypXkM\">pic.twitter.com\/JDWXWypXkM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Liz_Wheeler\/status\/1453535556248514566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 28, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Wheeler alleged that the Navy commander \u201cknows she is violating policy &amp; in fact complained to colleagues about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler said she obtained copies of two sworn affidavits from sailors who allegedly heard the commander claim she did not want to issue blanket denials of all religious exemption requests but was forced to by her boss. Wheeler also posted portions of the alleged affidavits, which appear to be notarized. Breitbart News has not independently verified the documents\u2019 veracity.<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler also alleged that the template for the denial memos came from a Judge Advocate General officer named LTJG Carlos Pagan who appears to work for Rear Adm. Peter Garvin, commander of Naval Training &amp; Education Command (NETC), and has no role in consideration of the religious accommodation requests.<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler also posted correspondence from the captain\u2019s second in command casting doubt on a requester\u2019s request for religious accommodation and citing an \u201caggressively anti-abortion site that insults &amp; stigmatizes pro-lifers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She posted other additional memos that used the same denial memo, although only slightly altered.<\/p>\n<p>Breitbart News also asked the Navy whether the religious requests were being considered on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18557778\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Marine-Sticker.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18557778\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Marine-Sticker.jpeg\" alt=\"Lieutenant Winston Young gets his first coronavirus vaccine at Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan, February 11, 2021. (U.S. Navy photo by Lieutenant Winston Young\/Released)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lieutenant Winston Young gets his first coronavirus vaccine at Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan, February 11, 2021. (U.S. Navy photo by Lieutenant Winston Young\/Released)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cAs we continue to review and adjudicate such requests, each will continue to be given full consideration with respect to the specific facts and circumstances submitted,\u201d the Navy spokesman said.<\/p>\n<p>Berry said he suspects the denials are happening across all the services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that the both the Navy and the Marine Corps are issuing carbon copy denials, I would suspect that the Army and the Air Force are doing the same \u2014 and that tells me that this is probably an orchestrated effort within the Pentagon to do this across all the branches of the military,\u201d Berry said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the handling of religious accommodation cases has been very different than with transgender troop cases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen transgender service members were asking for waivers to be allowed to continue to serve, I am very confident that those were handled on a very case-by-case basis and that they were treated in accordance with the law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo it\u2019s very disappointing that the DOD seems to be treating religion and religious freedom far less favorably than it\u2019s treating other issues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Follow Breitbart News\u2019s Kristina Wong on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/kristina_wong\">Twitter<\/a>&nbsp;or on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kristinawongreporting\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marine Corps commanders across different commands are using the same form letter to deny religious accommodation requests for the coronavirus vaccine, despite a legal requirement to consider each request on &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":2315279,"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-952786","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\/952786","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\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}