Despite several on-going court cases and recent court ordered injections prohibiting the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps from punishing or discharging those seeking COVID vaccine religious exemptions (a request for a similar injunction regarding Coast Guard personnel is being reviewed), on 18 Aug the Coast Guard Academy gave seven cadets until 1600 on Friday, 19 Aug to get off base. In July, the government legal counsel agreed not to take any adverse action against the cadets until 1 Sep, with the understanding that the injunction request would be litigated by then. As the deadline approached, an extension was requested, but not acted on.
Although not discharged, they were ordered to report to a temporary duty assignment (later referred to as “alternative work site arrangement”) at their home of record (they were not allowed to change this address regardless of whether or not their parents could take them in) and to maintain Coast Guard standards and training in case the litigation is decided in their favor and they are allowed to return; except they are not allowed to attend classes remotely. They were ordered to make their own travel arrangements and use their personal credit cards.
As of the date of this publication, they were still fighting for reimbursement, per diem and the basic allowance for housing legally required for service members on active duty and not living in government quarters. Two of the cadets were not able to move back in with their parents; one of them lived out of his truck for four days until a friend took him in expecting rent and utility help. In another case, the cadet’s unemployed mom had to stop renting his room, losing vital income and forcing her to charge him rent and utilities, amounts not possible on cadet pay.
The cadets have been ordered not to talk to the press.
One of the cadets, a senior, told STARRS: “As for my passion to serve, I truly loved being at the academy and made it my entire world for the three years I was there. I will always be a little hurt if I never get to become an officer. But with the direction that the service is turning—woke propaganda, transgender crap, meaningless and hurtful vaccines—I’m not so sure if I want to be a part of that if the military continues turn its back on the core principles it built itself on.”
Because STARRS’ lead attorney, Mike Rose, is representing more than 30 military members, including some of these cadets, fighting for the right not to be forced to take the experimental COVID vaccines on religious grounds, we were able to break the story in a press release on 25 Aug. Rob Maness published the story right away. The AP followed with quotes from Mr Rose the following week.
Mr Rose gave a detailed interview on One America News on 5 Sep:
Leave a Comment