Posted on 11/14/2021 12:39:41 PM PST by RomanSoldier19
The US Department of Defense on Saturday stood by its vaccine mandate after Oklahoma's new Adjutant Gen. Thomas Mancino in a letter said the state would not enforce the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for its members of its National Guard.
"We are aware of the memo issued by the Oklahoma Adjutant General regarding COVID vaccination for Guardsmen and the governor's letter requesting exemption. We will respond to the governor appropriately," John Kirby, a spokesperson for the Pentagon, told CNN.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stood by the mandate, the spokesperson told CNN.
"That is why he has ordered mandatory vaccines for the total force, and that includes our National Guard, who contribute significantly to national missions at home and abroad," Kirby added, according to the report.
The DOD in August announced that all members of the US military would need to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
In a memo issued this week, Mancino ordered that "no Oklahoma Guardsman be required to take the COVID-19 Vaccine." He issued the memo the same week he had been named to the position by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican. Mancino still needs to be confirmed by the Oklahoma Senate, according to the CNN report.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Maybe the pentagon should file a suit to force the mandate 🤪
Good luck with that.
Yep, the ball is back in the Biden’s court and they don’t know what to do. I’m hoping other states tighten the screws.
The military survived before the vaccines.
How about doing that same thing now?
I read that the active duty fascists denied ALL religious exemption claims — 16,000 of them.
If he is serving as a National Guard, the pentagon will probably take the easy way out and just ‘re-assign’ him elsewhere. I hope I am wrong.
In general, NG troops fall under Federal authority when activated under Title 10. Virtually all other times they are under the authority of the governor of their state. It’s quite likely state governors have the legal authority to override SecDef Austin and the Pentagon in this case. It also appears Gov Stitt Fired Maj Gen Thompson and appointed Brig Gen Mancino, who was willing to defy the Pentagon and support his governor.
The United State of Socialist Democrats has spoken. You must obey.
Federal court just put a temporary stop to mandate didn’t they?
I think it is fitting that people are starting to use civil disobedence against Biden’s crap.
Also, the state National Guard can't Article 15 someone for disobeying an illegal order from the Feds when that member wasn't activated.
I’m guessing the OKARNG has no real problems with existing troopers unless they get activated, which can buy them time into the summer when active duty time comes up. For Soldiers going to big Army schools, if the Pentagon wants to play hardball, they could refuse to train the soldiers who show up and aren’t willing to get the shot, which is more an issue for initial entry than anything else, and we don’t need to grow the force nearly as fast as we did when we were still in Afghanistan, but then again I don’t know if they have statutory authority over those things. I doubt it’s been tested before.
Also, I’m glad it’s being tested. In a better world, the federal government would have a much smaller standing army (maybe 2-300,000 across all branches), mainly for strategic elements, some QRF and special ops, maintaining equipment, and training. Everyone else would be pushed down to the states so the troops could best serve the people who need them the most. A national guard that vastly outnumbers the federal forces also encourages the federal forces to get buy-in from the states before starting wars.
Sounds like the worst they can do is snub the brigadier if he comes up for another star on his collar.
Betcha he’s popular with his troops.
Yup. Not a single one in the Navy or AF approved.
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