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Memo: Military Threatens to Revoke Benefits From Marines Who Decline COVID Vaccine
[WashingtonFreeBeacon] Marines will lose their pensions, tuition assistance, and access to the G.I. bill, along with other military benefits, if they refuse the COVID-19 vaccination, according to internal emails reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.An Aug. 18 email from Col. Teague Pastel, a commanding officer at the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., told colleagues that although "vaccines are still voluntary," the military believes "they will become mandatory in the near future." The penalties for refusing the coronavirus vaccination, Pastel wrote, should be in line with others for insubordination. Those penalties include "administration separation," a demerit in the Marine's personal file, as well as the forfeiture of various retirement and financial benefits. "Please continue engaging with our troops on the importance of vaccinating, and stress that it is still voluntary at this time. However, once the vaccine becomes mandatory they need to be prepared to separate and potentially lose benefits," Pastel's email reads. "If the Marines are not willing to lose the benefits then they should just get the vaccine now." Pastel sent the email prior to the Food and Drug Administration's Monday move to approve the Pfizer vaccine, which opened the door for the military to mandate it for its members. The Pentagon announced the vaccine mandate within hours of FDA approval. Although military officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark Milley, previously discussed mandating the vaccine, how they planned on implementing it remained unknown. The memo obtained by the Free Beacon describes how the armed forces plans to use a variety of draconian measures to make life as an unvaccinated troop as difficult as possible. "As you continue engaging with your Marines and Sailors about volunteering to get the vaccine now instead of waiting, please ensure they know the anticipated ramifications of refusing to vaccinate," Pastel says in the memo. He then says those who decline the vaccination will lose out on tuition assistance, "Post 9/11 G.I. Bill" benefits, as well as retirement contributions and credits. The Marine Corps did not respond to a request for comment. The Pentagon says more than one million troops are fully vaccinated, with another 237,000 receiving one dose. The percentage of those vaccinated by branch varies greatly, according to the military's latest numbers. The Department of the Navy, of which the Marines are a part, says 74 percent of its members have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Other branches of the military have struggled to get their members vaccinated, with the Air Force seeing over 65 percent of its active force at least partially vaccinated. The Army has the lowest vaccination rate at around 50 percent.
In the late 90s, the USAF couldn't get anybody to volunteer for the career and marriage destroying duty that was Recruiting, so some genius decided that ALL Staff Sergeants returning from overseas during a 90-day period were going to be recruiters whether they wanted to or not. When asked what would happen if these folks declined, the answer was "They'll be discharged - and they're far too invested in their careers at this point to walk away and lose everything now." Dear 'Burgers, since you're here and you're reading this, it's likely you've already figured out what happened next. The OFFICIAL number of decliners was "in the low double digits", but it was enough to make the USAF very quietly kill the program. I was told on a couple of occasions later that the actual number (those who actually said no and those who indicated they were going to) was closing in on 50%, which would have crippled the junior NCO corps for years had they actually been separated. The takeaway should be this: The USAF utterly failed to realize just how resistable an idiotic and ill considered 'irresistable' program could be. The United States Marine Corps - famed for the courage of its men and women, less so for the intelligence of some of its senior leadership at times - may well be about to learn the same lesson. Popcorn, anyone? Mike Posted by: 746 2021-08-25 |
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