The U.S. Marine Corps has rescinded its policy that penalized many soldiers who applied for a religious exemption from its COVID vaccination mandate.
The changes come at the same time the Navy decided to remove the prospect of penalties for a group of SEALs pushing for religious exemptions. It also coincides with reports that the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin saying that the Department of Defense (DoD) was in “potential noncompliance” with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) after denying religious accommodation requests en masse. (RELATED: Inspector General Flags Pentagon’s Vaccine Order for ‘Potential Noncompliance’)
In response, an “interim guidance” memo quietly posted online this week is amending action taken against unvaccinated Marines that heretofore included promotion delays and even involuntary termination.
The memo comes one month after U.S. District Court Judge Steven Merryday issued a preliminary injunction against the Marine Corps — and the entire DoD — for taking “certain actions” against Marines seeking a religious exemption.
In his 48-page ruling, Merryday noted that only 11 of the 3,733 Marines who requested religious accommodations had been granted them. Merryday then asked, rhetorically, “Is it more likely than not — in nearly all 3,733 cases — that no reasonable accommodation was available? Because the record reveals the substantial likelihood of a systemic failure by the Marine Corps to discharge the obligations established by RFRA.”
Fox News further reports on the new guidelines:
The guidance says the “Marine Corps will not enforce any order to accept COVID-19 vaccination, administratively separate, or retaliate against Marines in the class for asserting statutory rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).”
RFRA is the federal law that prohibits the government from “substantially burden[ing] a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability.”
“Involuntary administrative separation processing of class members for refusing COVID-19 vaccination is suspended,” the memo details.
In addition, it directs commanders to “pause all administrative actions related to the involuntary separation of a class member, regardless of the current status of the separation process (e.g., no orders will be given to receive the vaccine, no counselings will be issued for refusing the vaccine, no administrative separation boards will be conducted, no DD-214s will be issued).”
In 2021, the Marine Corps revealed its policy for Marines who didn’t get their shots by the coronavirus vaccination deadline, which could be summed up in two words.
Get out.
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Are there Marines who were already terminated. (or who “voluntarily” left rather than receive the vaccine)? If so, they should be given the option to return, with no loss in rank or pay. Further, if they choose to return, the Marines should reinstate their pay for the period of time that they would have been in service if not for the policy.
Due to what I have seen over the last several years, any respect that I have ever held for our government —- and that includes our military ——– is gone and I seriously doubt that the imbedded corruption in our government will ever be rooted out. President Trump tried but was simply over run with vipers on every side. I fear our nation has done slipped down the slippery slope to destruction.
But it’s now too late. In embracing the totalitarian Vax mandate, the Armed Services have lost irretrievable years of military experience and betrayed dedicated American soldiers. Moreover, they have sent a message to today’s youth that the military will not take care of its own. Who will enlist NOW? My Father the loyal, decorated Marine hero is spinning in his grave. A pox upon the politicized lickspittles in the Pentagon that rubber-stamped the Vax mandate.
Where did God say not to take a vaccine? Do these soldiers also keep kosher and refuse other medical care?