Austin Overrides the Constitution threatens Troops with loss of pay, discharge
Never mind OSHA, the science, the courts or Guaranteed constitutional freedoms, Austin is hell-bent on wagging the dog, playing posterboy for Pfizer et al Billion dollar industry at the expense of our troops
Service Members Must Be Vaccinated or Face Consequences, DOD Official Says
Defense Department officials are making it excruciatingly clear that no matter the status, if you wear the cloth of the military, you must get vaccinated.
Roughly 98 percent of the active-duty force has received the COVID-19 vaccine. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has mandated that all service members receive the life-saving shots.
This includes all reserve component members who must receive the shots, as well.
“It is a lawful order,” Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said today. “It is a valid military requirement to get the vaccine. And it does apply, as we’ve said before, to members of the National Guard.”
Unless there is an approved exemption, National Guardsmen who refuse to get the shots face repercussions and consequences. This includes loss of pay or the loss of the ability to train. Those who persist in failing to obey a lawful order face discharge.
Air National Guard personnel have until the end of the year to get the vaccinations. Army Guardsmen have until June 2022.
For service members, the situation is clear — get the shots or face the consequences.
“It’s our expectation that the chain of command for every Guardsman — just like the chain of command for every active-duty member of the armed forces — … will manage the mandatory vaccine requirement appropriately,” Kirby said. “If they don’t, then they, too, can be held to account under the [Uniform Code of Military Justice] for failure to obey a lawful order.”
COVID-19 continues to ravage the United States population. and those without vaccinations are at greatest risk. The omicron variant of the virus seems to be more contagious than previous versions, and hospitals in the country are filling up. The White House has announced a plan to deploy 1,000 military health care professionals to hardest hit areas in the coming days.
DOD officials are working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as state and local officials, to identify the right locations and the hospitals for these service members. The plan right now is for the service members to come from active-duty ranks, Kirby said.
National Guard Showdown: SecDef flames Oklahoma Governor, Brig. Gen: No Compliance, No Pay, No “National Recognition?”
For Austin, it’s a game of power and compliance. OSSA, Courts, Science and statistics are not the main factors.
75 active military members died in both 2020 and 2021 of Covid or “Complications”. In 2020 alone. 580 service members died by suicide in with similar or numbers expected in 2021 judging by statistics and reports that suicides are increasing across the board as job loss, trauma or abuse, mental health disorders and barriers to accessing health care, with pressures rising.
The Federal mandates have been suspended, But SecDef Austin won’t budge, with loss of job and pay pressures rising for National Guardsmen. His latest memo:
MEMORANDUM FOR SECRETARIES OF THE MILITARY SERVICES CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR PERSONNEL AND READINESS
CHIEF OF THE NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU
SUBJECT: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Members ofthe National Guard and the
Ready Reserve
In my memorandum of August 24, 2021 , “Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination of Department of Defense Service Members,” I directed the Secretaries of the Military Departments to immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the Armed Forces under DoD authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard, who are not fully vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Vaccination is essential to the health and readiness of the Force. Accordingly, the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Air Force, in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, shall establish, as appropriate, policies and implementation guidance to address the failure to maintain this military medical readiness requirement by members of the non-federalized National Guard who remain unvaccinated, including as follows:
• Unless otherwise exempted in accordance with Department policy, all members of the National Guard must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by the deadlines established by the Army or Air Force, as appropriate, or must subsequently become vaccinated, in order to participate in drills, training and other.duty conducted under title 32, U.S. Code.
• No Department of Defense funding may be allocated for payment of duties performed under title 32 for members of the National Guard who do not comply with Department of Defense .COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
• No credit or excused absence shall be afforded to members who do not participate in drills, training, or other duty due to failure to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Secretaries of the Military Department, in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, shall issue similar guidance and policy for members of the Ready Reserve, in addition to the guidance and policy issued by the Secretaries of the Army and the Air Force, with respect to members of the non-federalized National Guard.
The policies and implementation guidance directed by this memorandum shall be published no later than December 6, 2021. As I’ve said before, vaccination of the Force will save lives and is essential to our readiness. Thank you for your continued leadership and focus on this critical mission.
Showdown: SecDef Austin flames Governor Kevin Stitt, Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Mancino, Oklahoma National Guard Commander
The Oklahoma National Guard released a statement concerning their policy on COVID vaccination mandates for the Soldiers and Airmen in their formations.
DOD fired Back, flaming the Oklahoma Governor, Guard Commanders
At the direction of Governor Kevin Stitt, Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Mancino, the adjutant general for Oklahoma, issued updated COVID-19 vaccine policy for the Oklahoma National Guard.
“This policy is not anti-vaccine. I and the Governor are both vaccinated. I encourage all our Oklahoma Guard Members to get vaccinated if they choose to do so.” Mancino said.
“We want to educate and inform our Soldiers and Airmen so that they can make an informed decision regarding the DoD Vaccine Mandate.”Under Title 32, Congress established a dual framework for the National Guard.
The states receive federal funding in return for being made available to the federal government when called to active duty by the President.
Under Title 32, the Oklahoma National Guard is a state-controlled and federally-funded entity and takes orders from the Governor and his designated chain of command.
When mobilized by the President, under Title 10, the Oklahoma National Guard takes all orders from the President and his designated chain of command.
“Failing to follow the Governor’s lawful orders while on Title 32 would be both illegal, unethical, and against our sworn oaths. Nothing in this order prevents anyone from taking the vaccine,” Mancino said.
“Also, nothing in his order eliminates the Federal Requirement. The Governor is hoping for Federal Relief from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and in the interim has granted state relief from this requirement.”
Until a Guardsman is activated under Title 10, they follow the lawful commands of the Governor of the State of Oklahoma, who has not mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for Oklahoma Guard Members. Once activated to title 10 status, Guardsmen are subject to all Title 10 laws and mandates until returning to Title 32 status.“If you [Oklahoma Guard Members] are not mobilized on Title 10 orders, the only entity that can give you a “lawful” order – that is an order backed by the authority of law – is the Governor and his designated State chain of command.
That “law” is Title 32 U.S. code,” Mancino said. “This is easily seen by the fact that the UCMJ does not apply to you in Title 32 status. Instead, you are governed by the Oklahoma Code of Military Justice (OCMJ).
”Therefore, Brig. Gen. Mancino provided the policy clarifying the Governor’s order that Soldiers and Airmen in the Oklahoma National Guard are relieved from this requirement until mobilized in accordance with the Constitution, the Law, and sworn oath.
“The Governor’s request is with Secretary Austin for decision, and the National Guard Bureau has indicated it will conduct a legal review of our position,” Mancino said. “The proper venue for the resolution of these issues is the Governor’s office, Congress, and the Federal Executive branch.
Not the court of public opinion in the press or on social media.”
DOD: The secretary of defense has the authority needed to order all members of the military – including the National Guard – to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said.
The mandate to get the vaccines is a readiness issue, Kirby said, and the secretary sees the vaccinations as the best way to protect service members from COVID-19.
The National Guard serves under three authorities: Title 10 (federal service), Title 32 (state status but federal government pays) and state status. The secretary has the authority to order guardsmen to receive the shots “even if they are in Title 32 status,” Kirby said.
“The secretary of defense has the authority to require these vaccines for all members of the force, including the National Guard, as I said, even in a Title 32 status,” the press secretary said. “When (guardsmen are) called up for their monthly training, they’re still federally funded. So (the secretary) has those authorities. And he believes and this is a larger point that vaccinated forces are a more ready force.”
Kirby pointed to the myriad missions that guardsmen have performed over just the past year. The Guard has helped in everything from fighting wildfires in a number of states, to helping mitigate hurricane damage. Guardsmen also helped secure the U.S. Capitol following the insurrection on January 6, 2021.
Guardsmen are also instrumental in getting this life-saving vaccine into the arms of millions of Americans across the country.
“(Guardsmen) do meet key national security needs, so it’s important for them to get these vaccines,” Kirby said.
It is a lawful order for National Guardsmen to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and refusing to do that, absent an approved exemption, puts them in the same potential jeopardy as active duty members who refuse the vaccines, he said.
Finally, the Guard may be under the command of state governors, but it still has the word “national” in its name. National Guard Bureau Chief Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson addressed this when he spoke to reporters last week at the Defense Writers’ Group. “In Louisiana this year, when Hurricane Ida hit the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the largest unit in Louisiana, was deployed overseas,” he told reporters. “Folks came from all other states to help out. And in fact, Louisiana at that same time had one of their helicopters in California fighting forest fires.”
There are 53,000 guardsmen on duty today, with 20,000 forward deployed. They have to be ready to fight from day one, if needed. And the vaccine is a part of that readiness.
The Guard is the strategic reserve of the United States, and they have a profound history of answering the call. In August 1940, with war clouds looming, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called up the National Guard. France and the Low Countries had fallen and Britain stood alone. The U.S. National Guard brought to the military more than 300,000 service members in 18 combat divisions and a number of air groups. The number of guardsmen federalized doubled the strength of the active Army.