‘You Are Hereby Reprimanded!’ Airman Told to Begin Separation Due to Vaccine Refusal
From Defense One:
An airman with the 319th Reconnaissance Wing has been directed to begin separating from the military over his refusal to take the Covid-19 vaccine.
“You are hereby reprimanded!” the commander of the Grand Forks, North Dakota-based unit wrote Oct. 3 in a letter of reprimand obtained by Defense One. “You failed to follow a direct order…and by doing so have placed yourself and your fellow airmen in danger.”
The 319th’s commander had ordered all wing airmen to get vaccinated by Sept. 28. That’s earlier than the service-wide Nov. 2 deadline set by Air Force headquarters.
“You have shown you are not committed to maintaining readiness for the Department of the Air Force,” the letter continued. “Because your behavior is inconsistent with further service in the Department of the Air Force,” the airman was ordered to begin the initial steps of military separation, including enrolling in the Air Force’s transition assistance program and completing a separation history and physical examination.
The letter left the door open for the airman to change his mind on the vaccine: “Further deviation or failure to comply may result in more severe action.”
An image of the orders—which had been set in a frame—was posted to the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook group earlier this month. A spokesperson for the 319th Reconnaissance Wing could not immediately verify the authenticity of the letter.
On Tuesday, Archbishop for the Military Services Timothy P. Broglio told service members they could refuse the vaccine on religious grounds, further muddying what guidelines forces should follow.
“No one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience,” Broglio said in a statement released Tuesday.
Last week, the Air Force issued guidance to airmen and guardians about how they can apply for a religious exemption, if they seek one, which requires a formal written request and an interview with a chaplain.
This airman is not the only one to get a warning; in another letter, dated Oct. 5, the commander of the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base advised an airman there to reconsider his decision to not get vaccinated or face further disciplinary action.
“Your actions put your dedication to service into question,” the Malmstrom commander wrote.
Last month, the Air Force issued general guidance that it had a full range of administrative options to address airmen who do not get vaccinated, but has not issued more specific guidelines like the Navy did Thursday, where it warned officers they could be removed from command within five days if they did not comply.
An Air Force spokesman told Defense One that the decision on how to handle individual cases is being left to unit commanders who “are counseling their airmen, depending on what the situation is.”
This letter of protest to the Covid-19 vaccine mandates was found on the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page and I think EVERYONE need to read this letter.
The letter states:
“Wednesday, October 13, 2021
To: Lt Gen USAF XXXX
Subject: AFMC Vaccination Total Force RequirementsTo My XXXXXXXXXX Coworkers,
I write this and provide the attached documents as encouragement to you. I want you to know that “you are not alone” if you feel that you have been wronged by not being allowed to make your own decision on whether to get the Covid-19 vaccines or not. The “mandate” is flat out wrong. The data does not support it, and it is also morally wrong. It is sinister of our government to insist that you get the vaccines or else lose your job and other civil rights.
I understand that many of you are “between a rock and a hard place.” You don’t want to get the vaccine, but you feel that you are in no position to say “no” because you really need your job to support you and your family. However, there comes a point when you need to make a stand against tyranny. Telling you that you MUST inject an experimental vaccine into your body is as bad as it gets.
I encourage all of you to dig deep inside you and find that courage that is within all of us. I cannot make your decision for you, and I cannot guarantee that we will win. But I do know that if enough of us stand, then they will rescind this awful mandate. Some leadership have tried to give the impression that almost everyone has no problems getting the vaccine and that you are the “odd ball out” if you are vaccine hesitant. Let m tell you right now that is the furtherest thing from the truth.
How do I know this? Some of you at XXX may have seen me lately. I am the guy that spent my two-week vacation in September and the first two week-ends in October at the stoplight on XXXX Road by the Red Lobster just off I-XX, holding the sign saying “NO VAX MANDATE.” For the eighteen days (over 100 hours) that I have been out there, I estimate that I have watched over 100,00 cars go by me. Sure, many of the cars don’t do anything, and about 1% will give me the “middle finger” or say “F you.” But a significant number, about 20%, cheer wildly, honk their horns, or give me a “thumbs up.”
What is interesting is to see that when most of the cars are stopped at the light awaiting their turn to go, when the first car starts to honk it gives courage ti the other drivers to start honking their horns. Soon, many cars are letting the entire intersection know exactly how they feel about this rotten mandate. Furthermore, every single day that I was out there, people (including doctors, nurses, teachers, clergy, foremen, etc.) have taken the time to park their car and walk down to the corner to shake my hand and offer me a bottle of water.
I know that the stated work policy of “not asking people about their vaccination status” has been to protect our privacy. But I think is has also had the consequence of “isolating” each one of us so that we can never talk to our fellow coworkers about how they really feel about things like masks, social distancing, and the vaccine mandates. We were never really allowed to talk about these things together, so we never really had the opportunity to start “honking our horns together” if we disagreed with any policy.
Again, for those of you who despise this vaccine mandate, I want you to know that you are not alone. As for me, I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXX, (20 Year USAF Veteran, 16 Year Defense Contractor)”
P.S. For Lt. Gen. XXXX: You should be ashamed of yourself. You failed us. Instead of fighting for our right to choose for ourselves whether to get injected with an experimental vaccine, you spent your time trying to “guilt” us who are unvaccinated into getting the vaccine. Shame on you.
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