Last week, I reported on the skirmish between Lloyd Austin’s cronies at the Defense Department (and the State of Oklahoma) Austin demanded all Defense Department personnel receive the Wuhan virus vaccination or they would be dismissed. Oklahoma’s governor, Kevin Stitt, is against such federal overreach and went so far as to relieve the State Adjutant General who meekly kowtowed to Austin rather than obey his legal commander. My post on the subject is at Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt Dropkicks National Guard General Who Kowtowed to Lloyd Austin’s Stupid Vaccine Mandate.
The first warning shot was fired a little while earlier. This was the Voice of America correspondent covering the Pentagon.
Keep in mind, though: #CovidVaccineNational Guardsmen have until June 30, 2022 to resolve this matter. #Oklahoma
— Carla Babb (@CarlaBabbVOA) November 17, 2021
Three thoughts immediately spring into my head.
First, the abject cowardice that results in making an anonymous response to any substantive challenge is pretty much par for the course from what we’ve seen of the Austin-Milley team. Once you get outside of combatting white rage and ensuring the right number of the “right” people at all levels, their concern about the US military ends. They are also playing weak hands. If you’ve ever been in the Pentagon, you know the lobbying clout the National Guard Bureau can bring to bear even though it can’t officially lobby. If there were actual “consequences” in the offing, some anonymous person wouldn’t give a “scoop” to a fourth echelon outlet like VOA. Third, they are convinced they can wait this out, hence the anonymous official’s effort to spell out the June 2022 deadline for compliance.
The New York Times also has many more
Pentagon officials said Wednesday that a failure to follow “valid medical readiness requirements” could “jeopardize” the status of troops.
Although officials claim that Mr. Stitt doesn’t have legal standing to override the mandate, experts who are familiar with the Guard laws dispute this assertion. Federal mandates do not apply to National Guard personnel if they are not federally deployed. “Guard members can only serve one boss at a time,” said John Goheen, a spokesman for the National Guard Association of the United States.
It is possible to appeal against the Pentagon. This could result in the denial of funding for state units and impede Guard members being promoted who are refusing to get vaccines. Officials stated Wednesday that Guard members refusing to get vaccinated could also face dismissal. This is similar to active-duty troops.
“Oklahoma may be able to take this step as a legal matter, but there are definitely things the federal government can do in response that might make it a painful Pyrrhic victory,” said Eugene Fidell, an adjunct professor of law at the New York University Law School. “The governor and state adjutant general thus might find themselves commanding some very unhappy personnel.”
The Pentagon is bracing for other states to follow Oklahoma’s lead. Although no state has yet to do so, many people are closely monitoring the situation and could be sued. “This could be contagious,” Mr. Fidell said.
…
Although the majority of active-duty troops are vaccinated now, Guard members have fallen below those of the civilian population. Oklahoma’s Guard has vaccinated 89 percent, and only 40% of Army Guardsmen.
Fidell, charitably, is either an idiot or gives a damned good impression. Federal recognition is guaranteed by Title 32 of the US Code to National Guard officers who fill an authorized post in a National Guard unit. There is no “vaccine exception.” He is right about one thing, fighting this out could become a “painful Pyrrhic victory,” just not for Oklahoma. The funding for active and guard components is separate. Austin could conceivably try to sequester Oklahoma’s funding, but it is difficult to see where he could get that authority or why a man of so little in the way of reputation and charisma would want to pick a fight.
I’m not really sure about the downside of the Oklahoma Guard reverting to a “state militia.” The odds of federal funding being pulled approach zero. Worst-case scenarios could see parts of the OK Guard disbanded. This would mean that the Department of Defense would lose assets. It would also not deprive Oklahoma Guardsmen of work, but would allow them to stay out of nuisance deployments.
Joe Biden might be able to call the Oklahoma Guard into active duty, and then keep them there for long enough to fulfill his mandate. However, that may not work out as he desires. Read more from The New York Times
Spokesmen for the National Guard in North Dakota and Florida — whose governors oppose vaccine mandates — said they were following the Pentagon order, while officials in Texas were more vague.
“The decision whether or not to receive a vaccination is a personal matter each soldier and airman must weigh. The Texas National Guard provides the resources necessary for each service member to make informed decisions,” an unidentified spokesperson said in response to an email query. The official added that the state’s Guard members would be subject to a mandate only when they were serving in a federal status, suggesting that Texas could be following Oklahoma’s lead.
Texas’ willingness to make that public statement shows that other states are already adhering to that policy. They are just keeping their mouth shut about it. Austin and his other buttboys will likely end up leading a full-blown rebellion by half of the nation’s governors if they push too hard.
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