A Tennessee National Guard source told The Tennessee Star that more than 500 guardsmen remain without a COVID-19 vaccine past Big Army’s June 30 deadline.
“The number that I got about a month ago was 400; however, I have now heard it is actually 585-some,” the source said.
These are straight-refusals, the source said, not guardsmen awaiting the adjudication of their request for a religious or medical waiver. Those guardsmen continue in their service until and when their cases are resolved.
There are another 600 guardsmen awaiting adjudication of their exemption request, the source said.
Each state’s national guard is an independent force under the governor’s command, but its funding comes from the federal government’s Title 32 funding. As part of the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the Army forbids any reserve component soldier from being in a pay-status, drawing from Title 32.
Another Tennessee National Guard told The Star straight-refusals, who insist on remaining without the COVID-19 vaccine, are in a holding pattern because they are in a no-pay status. Still, the state’s Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Jeff H. Holmes has not issued the order to transfer these guardsmen formally out of their drilling or full-time status and into the Inactive National Guard (ING), part of the Army’s Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), subject to further sanction and eventual separation under current policies.
Servicemembers in the IRR or the ING remain within the Army and available for recall, but in this status, they receive no benefits, nor are they eligible for training or promotion.
This means the guardsmen and their families lose healthcare insurance under TRICARE Reserve Select and Servicemembers Group Life Insurance, a term life insurance plan that offers military personnel up to $400,000 in survivor benefits as a subsidized premium.
The second source said one year ago in July, as the vaccines became approved and available, and the Tennessee National Guard was mobilized to support Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Holmes, sometimes called the TAG for “the adjutant general,” told guardsmen at his headquarters that he would stick up for those refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
“TAG came down. He stood right in front of everybody — there were probably 30 or us inside the room, and he said: ‘We’re not going to be pushing these mandates for the soldiers, so you don’t need to worry about that. We’re just going to continue the mission as usual and do our jobs.’”
Two weeks later, the TAG told soldiers gathered around him; he changed his mind, the second source said.
“He comes in and says: ‘We’re going to start writing an op order to help these soldiers find their way on the merry trail, once they finish their time in service, and help them out the door,’ or something along those lines. He completely altered his argument 180 degrees,” the second source said. Op order is Army shorthand for an operation order.
“What happened in those two weeks, I am not sure of.”
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Neil W. McCabe is the national political editor of The Star News Network based in Washington. He is an Army Reserve public affairs NCO and an Iraq War veteran. Send him news tips: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter, TruthSocial & GETTR: @ReporterMcCabe
Photo “Tennessee National Guard” by Tennessee National Guard.
Interesting that the US congress is exempt from the federal vaccine mandates. Rules for thee but not for me