US Military Violated Rules in Handling of COVID Vaccine Mandate Exemptions

This article originally appeared on The Epoch Times and was republished with permission.

Guest post by Zachary Stieber

U.S. military branches violated their own rules in handling requests for exemptions from the force’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, a watchdog has determined.

The Army and Air Force went well over time requirements in processing exemption requests, the Pentagon’s inspector general found.

In a sampling of 12 religious requests submitted to the Army, the average processing time was 192 days. The Army’s requirement is to complete reviews within 90 days.

The Air Force took an average of 168 days to review the 35 religious accommodation requests. The Air Force has a review requirement of 30 days.

“Prolonged delays in addressing requests for religious accommodations could impact a service member’s job placement and impede the command’s ability to make well-informed deployment and assignment choices,” Robert Storch, the Pentagon’s inspector general, said in a statement.

The Marines and Navy generally met timeline requirements, according to the new report.

“The Air Force is reviewing the DOD IG report and will comply with any changes required by the Department of Defense,” an Air Force spokeswoman told The Epoch Times in an email.

The Army said it is looking into the report.

Officials with the branches blamed the spike in exemption requests that came after the military imposed a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in 2021. The typical three or four requests skyrocketed into the thousands after the mandate was announced.

The mandate included exemptions for religious or medical reasons. The overwhelming majority of requests were rejected, often with form letters.

The audit was started in early 2022 after the inspector general received complaints. Sean O’Donnell, Mr. Storch’s predecessor, told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin later in the year that the military was violating federal law by assessing exemption requests generally, instead of on an individual basis, according to a memorandum obtained by The Epoch Times.

In the new report, however, the inspector general said it “found no evidence of a lack of individual review by the decision authorities” even though it said officials acknowledged drafting template letters that were often used in denying exemption requests and that some service members were not satisfied with the general nature of the letters.

Of the 116 requests analyzed by the inspector general that had received a decision as of June 2022, just 11 were approved—with nine being approved because the member was due for a voluntary discharge or retirement—while the rest were denied. Authorities said the denials came because they found vaccination was the “least restrictive means” to further compelling military interests, an exception to religious freedom allowed in federal law.

Some other requests were canceled because the requesting personnel separated or became vaccinated.

Read the full story in The Epoch Times.