Over 100 Marines Discharged for Refusing COVID Vaccine

Over 100 Marines Discharged for Refusing COVID Vaccine

This week, I reported that 27 members of the US Air Force have been discharged for failing to get the COVID vaccination.

Now over 100 Marines are being discharged for not complying with the vaccine order.

One hundred three Marines have been discharged for refusing to take the COVID vaccine, the Marine Corps said Thursday, as the military services have begun to discharge a pool of possibly as many as 30,000 active duty service members who still refuse to be vaccinated — even after multiple opportunities to do so past vaccination deadlines.

In late August, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered mandatory COVID vaccines for all U.S. military personnel.

More discharges potentially loom ahead.

It’s not clear how many could end up being discharged. But according to the services, at least 30,000 service members are not yet vaccinated, but several thousand of those have gotten temporary or permanent medical or administrative exemptions approved.

Of the remaining — which is likely 20,000 or more — thousands are working their way through the exemptions process or have flatly refused. That’s about 1.5 percent of the roughly 1.3 million active duty troops.

I will simply point out that the politicized policy does nothing to enhance military readiness, for a staggering array of reasons:

• Serious COVID-19 cases impact the elderly, the obese, and those with other co morbidities….conditions not applicable to the members of our military.
• Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart tissue) is a side effect noted especially in young men who obtain the shot.  Even though the “experts” report this condition abates readily,  the potential impact is  significant. Why not allow those who receive the vaccine determine of they wish to take the risk (especially since the danger of serious side effects is minimal, per the first item)?
• The virus is clearly mutating to a milder version.  I am sure the US military has more pressing priorities that punishing service members for not getting vaccinated against something that, at worst, is going to be a severe cold.
• Troop morale has to have taken a hit.

And as the US military leadership has decided to impose senseless and draconian policies on service personnel, while focusing on diversity-inclusion-equity, I find it fascinating that Secretary of State Antony Blinken  is vowing more American military might to push back against China in Asia.

Blinken said the Biden administration is committed to maintaining peace and prosperity in the region and will do that by boosting U.S. alliances, forging new relationships and ensuring that the U.S. military maintains “its competitive edge.”

“Threats are evolving, our security approach has to evolve with them. To do that, we will lean on our greatest strength: our alliances and partnerships,” Blinken said in a speech in Indonesia, outlining the administration’s Indo-Pacific plans.

“We’ll adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power — diplomacy, military, intelligence — with those of our allies and partners,” he said. That will include linking U.S. and Asian defense industries, integrating supply chains and cooperating on technological innovation, he said.

Perhaps it is time to rethink the need to discharge qualified military men and women, rather than continuing to write checks larger than policies can cover?

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