First 27 Service Members Kicked Out of Military for Refusing Covid Vaccine
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The first service members to be kicked out of the military for refusing the Covid vaccine got their walking papers this week.
President Joe Biden has instituted a raft of COVID-19 vaccine or testing mandates, several of which have been halted as legal challenges make their way through the courts.
But Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s mandate for military service members has taken effect, and this week, the first discharges under that policy were carried out.
According to the Air Force, 27 airmen were discharged this week because of their refusal to be vaccinated — a drop in the bucket compared to those who have complied. From The Associated Press:
None of the 27 airmen sought a medical, administrative or religious exemption, Stefanek said. Several officials from the other services said they believe that so far only the Air Force has gotten this far along in the process and discharged people over the vaccine refusal.
As a result, they were formally removed from service for failure to obey an order. Stefanek said it is also possible that some had other infractions on their records, but all had the vaccine refusal as one of the elements of their discharge.
It is not unusual for members of the military to be thrown out of the service for disobeying an order; discipline is a key tenet of the armed services. As a comparison, Stefanek said that in the first three quarters of 2021, about 1,800 airmen were discharged for failure to follow orders.
According to the latest Air Force data, the vast majority — over 97 percent of the 326,000 active-duty personnel — have gotten fully vaccinated. So far, 1,039 have refused, while 4,742 have requested religious exemptions that are still being reviewed. The Air Force has 30 days to review those requests, and according to policy, “Individuals do not have to get immunized as long as their request is in the process of being decided.”
The Air Force has granted 1,010 medical exemptions.
