Archive for March 25, 2023

Military says vaccine refusers can come back!

Posted: March 25, 2023 by navygrade36bureaucrat in opinion/news, Uncomfortable Truths, war
Tags: , , , ,

But don’t worry, most won’t be coming back.

The military changed its rules on the COVID-19 vaccine because the science showed it didn’t actually work Congress passed a law requiring them to do so. Now that this has changed, the military wants the members that it kicked out to come on back…or at least, some people do. Others still cling to the “You disobeyed orders and should be punished!“

With the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine order lifted, troops can refuse to take the shot without risking ending their careers. But those who refused it in the past could still be booted for “disobeying a lawful order,” Defense Department officials warned lawmakers Tuesday. “It’s very important that our service members follow orders when they are lawful, and there are thousands that did not,” Gilbert Cisneros Jr., Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel, told members of the House Armed Services Committee. “The services are going through a process to review those cases to make a determination what needs to be done.”

So, in other words

Remember, we aren’t talking small numbers either:

Defense Department leaders said about 16,000 individuals refused that order without making any requests for exemption or accommodation. About 8,400 were separated from the services as a result.

I’m sure they will be coming back in droves. Remember this?

And this?

I give the Navy credit, at least all the individuals kicked out received honorable discharges. The Army was not so nice. A general discharge can impact the benefits you receive from the VA. It’s a choice by the service, and as the majority got a General Discharge, it defnitely means the discharging authority was angry over the refusal to obey orders, despite the fact the science was questionable at best on the vaccine.

I said it before, and I’ll say it again, this was NOT a good hill to die on for the military. Encouraging vaccines is one thing, but until there was a few years of data, you were just going to piss people off with mandates. Add a few young people dying after the shot, whether it was vaccine related or not, and you have a massive PR crisis on your hands.

Lawmakers are hoping many of those discharged will come back:

They did note that the vaccine refusals make up a small fraction of the total force, and said they hope that most service members continue to get the COVID-19 vaccines even without the mandate. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers on the panel said they hope to reinstate all dismissed individuals to the armed forces with full benefits and back pay. Cisneros said officials are not looking into any such move at the present.

Fat chance. The emphasis on “small fraction” misses a key point: every single member kicked out is going to tell all their friends to not join. The military just created 16,000 influencers, a portion of whom will take to social media and create a recruiting nightmare for the military. Worse still, this doesn’t count the many members that chose to retire early or voluntarily separate rather than continue service. Remember that “unprecedented” rise in military retirements and separations noted in the Health of the Force survey? That’s not random. You can only beat down on people for so long before they start to vote with their feet. Even among people who took the COVID vaccine, there is a fairly large number that didn’t think the mandate was a good idea. I make plenty of choices that I think are smart, but I wouldn’t mandate them on others, and I’m not alone in this thinking.

The military created this mess, and its spilling over into recruitment and retention. Expect it to get worse, despite anything that Congress will do.

The post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency. If you enjoyed this post, consider donating to DaTechGuy or purchasing one of the authors books.

Quick Thoughts Under the Fedora: Imagine the Outcry Under Trump , Teddy Brewster Hardest Hit, A Bill Clinton Problem, Catholic Men’s Conference Francis to Disney+ and of Course.

Posted: March 25, 2023 by datechguy in Uncategorized

According to a reporter to Today’s News Africa who is assigned the White House beat there is discrimination going on at the press briefings:

“They don’t take questions from any African journalists.”

Imagine the MSM outcry if this was said by a black African reporter under Trump or Bush.

This headline at Fox conserving Idaho is interesting

Idaho gov signs bill barring transgender students from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity

Such a woke headline rather than pointing out that students will be forced to use bathrooms that correspond with reality.

Of the course the person hardest hit in Teddy Brewster whose family has been lobbying for a bill forcing people to salute in his presence and require them to address him as either “Mr President” or “Colonel”

One of the reasons why Donald Trump does not like the response of Ron DeSantis to the possibility of his indictment is it highlights something about the whole Trump/Daniels business. While the prosecution is clearly political, the “crime” at best a paperwork misdemeanor that the statute of limitations has passed on. A “crime” even the Justice department has passed on there is one adjective concerning the alleged affair and payoff of Ms. Daniels by Mr. Trump that is just as unapplicable to this case as it was concerning Bill Clinton’s visits to Jeffrey Epstein’s island.

“Unbelieveable”

It’s because it is so believable to the public that the left keeps bringing it up.

Of course folks like me lost the culture war where such a thing was disqualifying almost 30 years ago to the left so I find it very interesting that they suddenly think it beyond the pale.

Today I’ll be at Assumption College in Worcester attending the Catholic Men’s Conference at the WQPH booth. I’ll have copies of my book to sell and will be taking prayer requests from any who wish to make them.

Hope to see you there.

A topic that may or may not come up is the Pope’s special that will be on Disney+ addressing issue with young people.

If it was St. John Paul II or Benedict XVI I’d be excited but I shudder at what Francis might say. Of course if St. John Paul II or Benedict XVI was still pope Disney+ would have no interest in giving the Pope a platform.

Unexpectedly of course

Finally one slightly amusing oddity. I’m Car pooling to the Men’s Conference and am supposed to meet the folks I’m going with between 6:30 & 6:45 AM today.

As I normally get up at 7:30 or later and I had trouble getting to sleep last night so my wife set two alarms for 6 AM on her phone as we no longer have an alarm clock.

So naturally I woke at 5:10 with no problem and was unable to shut off said alarms to keep from waking her. Rest assured that if the Alarms were not set I would still be asleep now.