Joe Biden signed the monstrous 2023 National Defense Authorization Act into law on December 23. One of its provisions was to reverse the Defense Department policy that administratively punished and discharged members of the Armed Forces who refused to take part in what can only described as an involuntary clinical study of the COVID vaccine. No informed consent was sought.
Congress didn’t count on the intransigence and power of the Branch COVIDians, who have control over the US Army.
You will find that the Army says, OK, the NDAA is the August 24, 2001 memo. But it doesn’t say squat anything about the November 30, 2020 memo that prohibits Guardsmen and Reservists from being paid unless they have been vaccinated.
It’s not enough that the Army has a severe shortage of manpower. Not only are fewer and less men willing to serve in an institution that is hostile to straight white men, especially those from the South, but 10% of Guard and Reserve soldiers will not receive pay when they are on duty, thereby increasing the attrition these components cannot afford.
This is not an error. The November memo specifically targeted state governors who refused federal vaccine mandate enforcement (see Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt Dropkicks National Guard Gen Who Kowed to Lloyd Austin’s Stupid Vaccine Mandate, and Pentagon Threatens To Downgrade Oklahoma National Guard as a “State Milieu” Unless It Complies with the Vaccine Mandate). While the Army has had to renounce its active duty mandate, it refuses to give up on the fight for the Guard and Reserve mandates. This is because it would make those who supported this policy even more ridiculous than they are now.
The Army will eventually have to accept this unusual interpretation of the NDAA. The Department of Defense won’t be pushed aside by a hostile House majority over something so trivial. This is because a) Defense won’t do it voluntarily; b) Congress doesn’t like to be told FOAD by executive departments.
This all comes down to two issues. The Defense Department has been allowed to have its way since Desert Storm. Both parties give general officers incredible respect and often drive erratically beyond their lanes on many issues. The military leadership is also promoting transgenderism by adopting any and all progressive claptrap, including Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Inclusion and Equity programs. This combination of entitlement and fealty towards the progressive left has hampered the ability to recruit, as well as questioned the military’s ability to perform its duties.
The Army’s refusal to follow the Congressional intent outlined in the NDAA is not a problem. It is a symptom of a larger problem. The Department of Defense is no longer accountable. The new Republican House must take steps to prevent this problem from worsening. The next Republican president should take a page out of George C. Marshall’s book and fill the military’s top ranks immediately with men who are focused on fighting and winning wars, not the princely class that controls the Pentagon today.
