By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor
WASHINGTON (LBM)—The U.S. military continues to negatively impact operational readiness with the continuing purge of active-duty members and now 40,000 Guardsmen and 22,000 Reservists who have declined the COVID-19 vaccines – many asking for religious exemption.
The four FDA-approved drugs that are available to service men and women are tainted by use of tissue from an aborted child either in one or more of the development, production and testing phases.
According to military.com, U.S. Army officials announced, July 8, that these 62,000 veterans will be blocked from service for rejecting COVID vaccines. An estimated 20,000 Guardsmen and Reservists combined have asked for religious exemptions.
Already, about 20,000 active-duty personnel have asked for religious accommodation:
Army (api.army.mil)
— As of July 7, only 19 of 4,782 religious exemption requests have been approved.
— Already, 1,300 soldiers have been separated from military service.
Air Force (airforcemag.com)
— Just 118 religious exemption requests (all to airmen already leaving voluntarily) have been approved out of more than 9,000 that have been submitted.
— More than 3,000 non-religious exemption requests have been approved.
Marines (seapowermagaine.org)
— Only 7 religious exemption requests have been approved out of about 3,700 that have been submitted.
— About 2,700 Marines have been discharged, so far.
Navy (navy.mil)
— More than 4,400 sailors have asked for religious exemptions, with 42 having been approved.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 of these seamen have been separated from military service.
As for combat readiness, multiple reports indicate that as much as 13 percent of Guardsmen could be separated.
Importantly, the Air Force reported in 2019, that it was experiencing a severe shortage of fighter pilots, nearly 2,000, out of a needed 18,400. There are an estimated 700 pilots facing ends to their careers because they have requested religious exemptions to the military’s vaccine mandate.
So far, neither the military nor the Biden administration have sought to import any of the 100 percent pro-life ethical vaccines that are available in other countries. For instance, Covaxin (developed in India) is being used in Mexico and Canada. Also, Israel, Germany, South Korea and Japan, all U.S. allies, have developed COVID-19 vaccines that are not tainted with stem cells from unborn children.
