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10% of Army National Guardsmen unvaccinated past deadline
Midnight last night marked the official deadline for All National Guardsmen to be fully vaccinated for Covid and one out of every ten National Guard Soldiers still fail to meet compliance. While they now may face separation from service, its unclear whether or not the National Guard can afford to take action.
In November of last year, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that service members who fail to adhere to the deadline for full vaccination status would be rendered ineligible to drill, receive pay, or accrue retirement benefits. He also stated that continued refusal could lead to involuntary separation from service.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nearly 40,000 troops in the US Army National Guard who have rejected <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a> vaccine shots are set to face penalties after the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VaccineMandate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VaccineMandate</a> deadline passed on Thursday at midnight. <a href="https://t.co/M7vCv9ZQEb">https://t.co/M7vCv9ZQEb</a></p>— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/EpochTimes/status/1542975080392687620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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However, earlier this week Defense officials said that due to the military-wide recruiting crisis, unvaccinated National Guard Soldiers could continue to receive pay and benefits. According to Defense officials, due to the crisis, unit commanders may ultimately be authorized to “put unvaccinated troops in a temporary status that would let them keep their pay and benefits longer.”
Today, a statement released by the Army stated that mandated will be enforced and that “Soldiers who refuse the vaccination order without an approved or pending exemption request are subject to adverse administrative actions, including flags, bars to service, and official reprimands. In the future, Soldiers who continue to refuse the vaccination order without an exemption may be subject to additional adverse administrative action, including separation.”
Related: The Supreme Court will decide if Guardsmen and reservists can sue states for employment violations
According to officials, Guardsmen who have already requested an exemption, are already being processed for separation, or have begun the vaccination process may be held in a "temporary duty status" in which they may still earn pay and retirement benefits until their separation.
Officials from the Department of Defense remain optimistic that the roughly 37,000 unvaccinated National Guardsmen will choose to get vaccinated rather than force the branch to separate them.
Director of the Army National Guard, Lt. Gen. Jon Jensen said, “We’re going to give every soldier every opportunity to get vaccinated and continue their military career. We’re not giving up on anybody until the separation paperwork is signed and completed.”
