Guest post by John Frankman
At a campaign rally last month, Donald Trump made a significant promise: if elected President, he would restore service members kicked out of the military by the COVID vaccine mandate with backpay and an apology.[1] Though this move is a necessary and commendable first step, it is insufficient to fully address the damage President Biden and Vice President Harris did to our military and its service members by the vaccine mandate.
One obstacle to repairing this damage is the difficulty those outside the military have in understanding how the military was affected by this order. The military is a unique institution foreign to most Americans. It has its own hierarchical structure, legal system, and cultural norms and is an all-consuming way of life. All Americans were affected by COVID risk prevention policies, but service members were especially impacted.
Most believe the extent of the damage was the 8600 service members who were kicked out.[2] In reality, in addition to those discharged, the DoD forced out tens of thousands of others[3] and left many vaccine injured.[4]
Beyond these immediate effects on readiness, the mandate was illegal,[5] violated service members’ religious rights,[6] was implemented in extremely coercive ways that destroyed trust, habituated a leadership environment that rewards moral cowardice and careerism, and is likely a significant factor in the current recruitment crisis.
Solely bringing back those kicked out with backpay and an apology doesn’t come close to fixing the long-term institutional damage caused by the mandate.
To address the damage done by the military’s COVID vaccine mandate and to ensure a clearer understanding of the problem, Trump should take the following steps.
First, to gain full insight into the problems surrounding the mandate, Congress should hold a series of hearings on the implementation of the DoD’s COVID 19 policy with collaboration from veterans who experienced it. There is a network of hundreds of former and active service members dedicated to repairing the damage done by the mandate. These individuals can serve as witnesses, offer background information, and ultimately provide Trump and Congress a clear picture of the problems with recommended solutions.
Republicans, who currently hold a majority in the House, can call for these hearings without any Democrat help. If Trump called on House Armed Services Committee Republicans to hold this series of hearings now, he would understand the problem and be ready to fix it immediately upon taking office. I made this request to HASC on July 10th elaborating hearing topics and how veterans can help.[7]
Second, Trump must ensure that DoD leaders who carried out this unlawful order are held accountable. He can do this by using his service secretaries to court martial those responsible for laws they violated via the COVID mandate and risk mitigation policy, even recalling officers off retirement to active duty.
Crucial to this step is appointing competent service secretaries of good character. Some recommendations for Trump’s consideration for Secretary of Defense are Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, and Robert Greenway of the Heritage Foundation.
For individual service secretaries, Trump can consider LTC (Ret) Matthew Lohmeier, author of Irresistible Revolution for Secretary of the Air Force and CDR Rob Green, author of Defending the Constitution Behind Enemy Lines for Secretary of the Navy. These two are experts on the effects of DEI and COVID policy on the military and can redirect the military to its primary purpose of supporting and defending the constitution.
Without accountability this will happen again.
Finally, Trump must enact legislation to repair the damage done to service members.
Restoring the 8,600 service members discharged from the mandates is a small aspect of the larger damage done to the military. Many individuals, though not technically discharged, chose to leave because COVID policies caused them irreparable career damage or they risked losing their honorable discharge.
The unvaccinated who stayed in the military weren’t able to deploy, travel, or move to future duty stations while their exemptions were pending. They were also likely stigmatized for not being a “team player.”
There must be a board process to adjudicate missed career opportunities and promotions for all whose careers were impacted. If individuals who enforced the unlawful mandate for the sake of careerism are rewarded while those who followed the constitution are punished, the military remain morally degraded.
Other necessary legislation includes covering COVID vaccine injuries under the PACT Act, automatically upgrading discharge statuses for those kicked out to honorable, and making Constitutional training an annual requirement. Service members must know their individual rights and understand the document they took an oath to support and defend.
Trump’s promise to bring back service members discharged by the COVID vaccine mandate with backpay and an apology are praiseworthy, but not enough to fix the damage President Biden and Vice President Harris did through the mandate. Trump must utilize veterans in congressional hearings to gain awareness, use his service secretaries to court martial flag officers responsible for the mandate, and implement legislation that addresses the full scope of the damage done by the mandate. Though a large task, Trump is not alone, he can lean on veterans affected by the mandate for assistance.
[1] https://x.com/johny_franks/status/1811188851928432832
[1] https://x.com/LarryDJonesJr/status/1826345978682900643
[2] https://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/10/only-43-of-8000-us-troops-discharged-over-vax-have-rejoined-report/
[3] Total force reduced by 6000 from SEP 2021 to SEP 2022
Army misses FY22 recruitment by 15000
[4] https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/2023/7/sen-johnson-to-sec-austin-dod-s-pattern-of-deception-regarding-its-medical-database-is-unacceptable
[5] https://www.nebraskamed.com/COVID/you-asked-we-answered-are-pfizers-comirnaty-and-biontech-covid-19-vaccines-the-same-or-different
[6] Green, Rob. Defending the Constitution Behind Enemy Lines: A Story of Hope For Those Who Love Liberty. Skyhorse Publishing, 2023, (66-68). https://www.amazon.com/Defending-Constitution-behind-Enemy-Lines/dp/1510778071
