West Point 'unaware' vaccine mandate ended
The US Military Academy at West Point last week said it was unaware the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate had been repealed, nearly one month after an order from the Department of Defense (DoD) rescinded the mandate for the US military.
Though the DoD’s order took effect January 31st and the Army abolished the mandate, West Point’s admissions office has been denying individuals entry to the academy without proof of vaccination.
West Point’s Public Affairs Office confirmed to the Daily Caller last week that “the policy is that individuals seeking accession into the Army must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.” The academy cited Army Directive 2022-02 as the reason it “will follow current policy for initiating administrative separation and disenrollment proceedings for cadets and cadet candidates . . . as appropriate. The basis for separation will be ‘Misconduct',” the directive reads.
A day later, a spokesman for West Point followed up with the Daily Caller and said the academy was now revoking the vaccine mandate, explaining that it had been unaware of the new directive from the DoD repealing the mandate.
The Army then published an official policy Friday allowing those who were denied admission based on vaccination status to reapply.
“I hereby rescind all Department of the Army policies specifically associated with the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination mandate,” wrote Army Secretary Christine Wormuth.
“At a time when recruitment numbers are already dangerously low, our service academies should not be discriminating against applicants,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) said. “The lack of transparency and unclear guidelines surrounding this mandate is just the latest example of bureaucracy at its worst!”
Even in the absence of a mandate, the Biden administration continues to pursue unvaccinated service members for their refusal to receive the COVID-19 injections, most recently by forcing them to pay back their recruitment bonuses.
One Army soldier who received a $7,000 signing bonus and was fired for refusing the shots in May must now pay back a pro-rated $4,000 to the Biden administration for failing to complete his six-year commitment. The soldier was forced to sell 60 of his vacation days to come up with the money.
"I've deployed multiple times, and I feel like the last thing I had was selling leave days that I earned and was never able to take due to me being deployed or needing that time to prepare for the training cycle,” the serviceman told Fox News Digital. “I was about to enter a new world with no income, and that extra bit would have been a nice buffer in my rainy day fund to keep me afloat until I was able to find new employment.”
He added that his treatment by the US military over his vaccination status has taken a negative toll on his emotional health.
"The appalling treatment these individuals endured broke the trust that is owed to our citizens and our volunteers. America’s sons and daughters," another serviceman said. “Until true efforts are made to establish trust, the recruiting and retention shortfalls will only continue. The individuals who make public statements that they are unsure what has contributed to the current recruiting and retention shortfalls need to take a look in the mirror; and perhaps they should resign for the betterment of our Nation.”
