December 16, 2021
The military’s ground branches have released some of the most dramatic statistics yet of the punishments imposed on troops who refused mandatory coronavirus vaccines, as a small but stubborn cohort of service members appears intent on calling the Pentagon’s bluff.
The Marine Corps reported Thursday that it had discharged 103 Marines for refusing to take the vaccine – the first in a pool of as many as 10,000 in that service alone that remain unvaccinated following the Marines’ deadline at the end of November. Though the service with the highest refusal rate has said it would grant some leeway to them to change their minds, its chief said this month in an appeal to unvaccinated Marines, “We’re not bluffing.”
Also on Thursday the Army reported it had relieved six active-duty commanders for refusing the shot, including two battalion commanders – the position considered among the most consequential for rising Army leaders. It has also issued 2,767 “general officer written reprimands” for soldiers who have similarly refused.
Though the service provided less detail on the number of soldiers it intends to discharge, it provided a series of troubling statistics that point to a similar showdown early in the new year with the more than 6,200 active-duty soldiers whose permanent exemption requests are still pending and the almost 3,900 who have refused the vaccine without any pending or approved exemption.
Read more at U.S. News & World Report.