Live from Music Row, Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Captain Mickey Shelton of the Tennessee National Guard to the newsmaker line to discuss his position on the current COVID-19 vaccine requirements and the authority of Governor Bill Lee.
Leahy: We welcome to our newsmaker line, Captain Mickey Shelton. Good morning, Captain Shelton.
Shelton: Hey, good morning, sir. How are you?
Leahy: So, let’s tell our audience – in what service are you a captain?
Shelton: Yes, and before I do that, I’ve got to read a quick disclaimer, if you wouldn’t mind.
Leahy: Sure, please do.
Shelton: My opinions on this program [are] my own, and it’s not reflective of the Department of Defense, U.S. Army, or the Tennessee Army National Guard.
But yes, I’m currently a captain serving in the 230th Sustainment Brigade out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and I’ve been in the military for 10 years now.
Leahy: Now, are you full-time in the Tennessee National Guard? Have you been deployed outside of Tennessee? What’s your history in the Tennessee National Guard?
Shelton: I’ve been with the Tennessee National Guard ever since 2011, when I first joined. I joined as an enlisted member of the infantry.
I was in the 278th [Armored Calvary Regiment] for a little while, went to school, went to the military academy, did work in Missouri, came back and commissioned, and from there I served at the 776 Support Maintenance Company out of Elizabethton, Tennessee. Done some things in between; deployment-wise, I deployed to Kuwait back in 2019, which is where I am now, I’m with the 230th Sustainment Brigade.
Leahy: Are you in Kuwait now?
Shelton: I was in Kuwait. No, not currently in Kuwait. I was in Kuwait in 2019, but currently with the 230th Sustainment Brigade.
Leahy: Are you full-time in the Tennessee National Guard right now, or do you come on to do the weekend service?
Shelton: Right now, the weekend service. It’s called the end day. So I just do one weekend a month.
Leahy: One weekend a month. Okay. Now you have a point of view on the COVID-19 vaccine requirements sent to the Tennessee National Guard and all American military service members by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Have you taken the COVID-19 vaccine and what is your current status?
Shelton: I have not personally. I had submitted a medical exemption from my doctor out of Johnson City – which was declined almost immediately [by the Tennessee Medical Command] – for a prior health issue I’ve had.
Following that, I submitted a religious exemption, which is still pending currently at this time. But no, I’ve not taken the vaccine and nor will I take the vaccine.
Leahy: Are you then subject to dismissal tomorrow, on June 30th?
Shelton: So the way that works, the people that are going to be booted tomorrow, June 30th, are the people that are just strictly refusals. People that have not submitted a medical exemption or a religious exemption.
So tomorrow I think it’s estimated, roughly, give or take 400 soldiers. That’s refusals in the Tennessee Army National Guard, that are going to be kicked out for just strictly refusing.
So that doesn’t include people with medical exemptions or pending exemptions.
Leahy: And when do you expect your pending exemption to get a response on that?
Shelton: And there’s the thing – I don’t think nobody really knows. We’re told so many answers. It can be tomorrow, it could be next week, it could be months from now. So I think with that uncertainty, people retiring early, they’re getting out.
They’re afraid they might be booted or discharged with an “other than,” which really depends on the command you’re in, so we’ve been told.
So you could maybe get something other than an honorable discharge. So it’s really scared a lot of people and they don’t want to lose their benefits.
Leahy: And if you had a dishonorable discharge, you would lose your benefits, is that correct?
Shelton: There are certain stipulations with having other than honorable or if you have a dishonorable, of course, having an honorable discharge, you’ll have your full benefits. But, yes, there are different stipulations with other forms of that.
Leahy: There’s a rally here today in Nashville at the Capitol at 11:30 a.m. in support of those Tennessee National Guard members who have either refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine for whatever reason or had an exemption request denied. Will you be in attendance at that rally, or do you support the efforts at that rally?
Shelton: I definitely will be in attendance. I’m actually one of the speakers, and I encourage anyone else who’s listening to come out and support us and listen to what we have to say. If you get a chance, please come out again. It’s at 11:30 a.m., downtown, Legislative Plaza. And we have a good lineup of speakers. We have some other state representatives and some other service members that are off duty.
Of course, putting that disclaimer there again, I will be speaking on behalf of these members, that are going to be kicked out in terms of their command structure.
Leahy: The commander of the Tennessee National Guard, is it Major General Holmes? Is that the person in charge at the highest level?
Shelton: Yes, that’s our adjutant general here in Tennessee. And then, of course, you have the governor, our commander in chief.
Leahy: Can the governor send a letter to the adjutant general, Major General Holmes, and say, I want you to stop the dismissal and the discharge of these 400 or so members of the Tennessee National Guard who are refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine? Can the governor do that?
Shelton: Absolutely, 100 percent. The governor is the commander in chief, and that’s his boss. That’s General Holmes’s boss. I know there’s been some confusion. I’ve heard things of, well, we can’t really do that because, and I can get into the weeds on this.
But guard members serve under Title 32, which is state orders. They are federally paid under Title 32. So I think that’s where everybody’s getting hung up, so their hands are tied. But that doesn’t mean the control or command authority is taken away from the governor.
The governor still has command authority under Title 32. It’s on everybody’s orders. They get to leave an earnings statement or a paycheck or pay stub every drill weekend or annual training. So the governor has the control to do something about it.
But just because it’s federal money, the federal government is holding us hostage. And so they’re just not wanting to stick their neck out at this point in time, and I’m hoping they do because you have soldiers that are going to be kicked out.
There was a soldier, one of many cases, who got the first shot, and she now has to wear a heart monitor, and she might have to wear a heart monitor for the rest of her life, and she was told to get the second shot or she’s going to be forced to be kicked out.
Leahy: Yes, that’s a very good point. Let me follow up with this. Tell me what you think. I’ve seen some proposals from certain members of the Tennessee National Guard, which would say, okay, if the governor would give a directive, as he has the authority to do to the adjutant general, and say, do not discharge these 400 soldiers in the Tennessee National Guard, the next step would be the Department of Defense would probably say, well, we’re not going to pay them.
Well, there’s a proposal that there should be a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly. We have a big surplus. Why could the state not pay those salaries during this period?
Listen to the interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Background Photo “Tennessee National Guard Members” by Tennessee National Guard.Â
