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Marines Brace for Fallout As Monday Vaccine Mandate Deadline Approaches

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Mar 17, 2013
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Top Drudge headlines this morning right next to the "new variant" breaking news:


Marines Brace for Anti-Jab Fallout...
Firefighter wipes feces on non-compliance letter...


Marines Face Defining Moment Ahead of Vaccine Mandate Deadline

The youngest and most conservative service with some of the most consequential missions also has the lowest levels of compliance to the mandatory vaccine orders.

By Paul D. Shinkman
Nov. 24, 2021, at 3:58 p.m.

Syringes of COVID-19 vaccines are transported aboard the USS Kearsarge on March 31.Fleet Marine Force Atlantic, U.S

The Marine Corps faces a defining moment leading up to its Monday deadline for all Marines to have received a coronavirus vaccine, with reports of a significant number who have refused the shot clashing with the service’s meticulously crafted image as the military’s most disciplined fighting force – and its most potent.

Roughly 10,000 of its 186,000-strong active duty force are positioned to miss the deadline the Department of the Navy set for all Marines and sailors to become fully vaccinated, according to the latest data, representing the highest proportion of any of the military services potentially to violate direct orders from the chain of command.

Even those who may have waited until the final weeks to begin the vaccination process will ultimately miss the deadline, which requires Marines to have completed the two-week vaccination process. The 38,000 Marine Corps reservists face a later deadline of Dec. 28.

Marine Corps headquarters has so far declined to say how many have applied for or been granted exemptions – a bureaucratic process to accommodate religious, medical or administrative concerns that has taken on outsized relevance in the age of coronavirus vaccine skepticism – or how it will punish those who outright refuse to receive the shot. A spokesman says it continues to study the scope of the issue.

But those with deep experience in the corps and its place in the wider military say it has already suffered from the initial refusals, with the potential for greater damage after next week.

“For decades the Marine Corps has been about the expeditionary force and readiness. ‘First to Fight,’ ‘Send the Marines’ – all those slogans about how they have to be ready to go on a moment’s notice,” says David Lapan, a former Marine Corps officer and later a spokesman for the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security.

“The Marine Corps prides itself on its discipline and following orders,” he adds. “The idea of rejecting an order, that’s counter to Marine Corps culture.”
 
One of the Navy's (well not currently, she's been relieved of most her responsibilities now) top Medical Officers just stated in Sen Johnson's panel on mandates that over 200,000 total soldiers are set to leave ranks. I'm willing to bet this is severely downplaying the total number in order to get a few more refusniks shot up, making them think they're alone.
 
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