The U.S. Army has just announced it will immediately begin discharging soldiers who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The new decision will impact all regular serving soldiers, reserve-component soldiers serving on Title 10 active duty, and cadets. The majority of all active Army soldiers have been vaccinated against COVID-19. As of January 26, 2022, 96% of active Army personnel have been vaccinated, and 79% of the Army Reserve have been vaccinated.
According to Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, the new decision boils down to practicality and ensuring personnel are in the best position to carry out their duties. “Army readiness depends on soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars,” said Wormuth in a statement. “Unvaccinated soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness. We will begin involuntary separation proceedings for soldiers who refuse the vaccine order and are not pending a final decision on an exemption.”
In true military style, commanders have been directed to discharge soldiers who refuse to get vaccinated “as expeditiously as possible.” Of course, personnel with a legitimate reason to not be vaccinated, supplied in the form of an approved or pending exemption request, will not be discharged if they do not get vaccinated. Additionally, soldiers set to leave the Army before July 1, 2022, will be granted a temporary exemption.
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Soldiers who do not comply with the mandate will also face financial consequences. Those who are discharged because they refuse to be vaccinated will be ineligible for involuntary separation pay and may be responsible for recouping unearned special or incentive pay. Army leaders have also been tasked with advising all unvaccinated individuals on the myriad health benefits of being vaccinated against the virus. As of January 26, 2022, 3,350 U.S. Army soldiers have refused the vaccine. Of those, 3,073 have been formally reprimanded for their refusal.
Across the U.S. military, 1,628,980 service members have been fully vaccinated. The Army is not the only branch of the U.S. military to clamp down on personnel holding out on the vaccine. In December last year, 2,500 unvaccinated Air Force members and Space Force guardians were ineligible for pay or benefits from the Air National Guard and were unable to complete existing jobs, new tasks, and training.
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Source: SELF
