The DOD, COVID-19 and "Lawful Orders"

The DOD, COVID-19 and Lawful Orders

By: Morgan Malin

What you’re about to read is a thread posing considerations of the mandated COVID-19 vaccine within the DOD (Department of Defense). Documents and sources obtained by myself and other anonymous sources.

Beginning 2021 into 2022, nearly 8,000 active duty and reserve members were involuntarily separated from service for refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

This particular story is different, well, because I was one of the 8,000 separated. Considering the ethics of this story, I questioned my objectivity while writing this. My conclusion? This information needs to be shared as context and legalities have shifted since 2021.

It should be noted that this piece does not annotate a position for or against vaccines rather implications on the potential negative side effects of vaccines that have not undergone proper clinical trial periods. Particularly when it comes to vaccinating an entire global population.

Modern medicine is an incredible evolution in human civilization and plays a necessary part.

Let's talk about informed consent for a moment. Informed consent is a medical principle and process where a patient is provided sufficient information of the risks and benefits of medical interventions. With this knowledge, patients have a right to accept or refuse treatment. Or so we thought.

So, the question arises; what happened to informed consent during the COVID-19 pandemic? Inundated by mass media with messaging that emphasized certainty around vaccine safety, “The COVID-19 vaccine is 100% safe and effective and everyone must get vaccinated.”

What in the scientific process is 100% proven?

On August 24, 2021, Secretary of Defense placed this memorandum force wide:

At this point, service members refusing began to experience threats, coercion and punitive actions. Training, deployments, promotions and retirement would be revoked for not being, “mission ready.” Those refusing would be charged under Article 92, UCMJ:

Medical and religious accommodations began. Some were approved, many were denied:

What frightened many was the knowledge that this was a vaccine under EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) and newly FDA approved. Service members questioned the efficacy and potential negative side effects. It’s important to note that the majority of service members are of childbearing age. Time and time again told, “This vaccine is safe and effective,” or “It’s likely the safest vaccine ever made,” said medical staff within the United States Marine Corps.

This is where it gets interesting. Four years later and according to VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System), it would indicate that perhaps the vaccine had not been as “safe and effective” as stated. The list is extensive and somewhat nauseating, I recommend you take a look for yourself. From this database only, the largest symptom events reported include: pyrexia (130,397), tinnitus (17,086), tremor (15,769), pain extremity (81,629), myalgia (58,335), arthralgia (52,661) and headache (150,892).

https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/datarequest/D8

Yes, you read that correctly. 4,147,694 symptom related events reported in the United States. Let me reiterate, reported. What is the process for a vaccine injury to be reported and how many have not been reported?

Moving forward, another narrative stated within the walls of the DOD was, “mission readiness.” Which is true, especially when it comes to deployments and being in close proximity to vulnerable populations.

However, a valid question to ask is, what entails being mission ready? Is it only physical and medical readiness? What about mental readiness?

According to Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO), an annual, quarterly suicide report is produced. Since 2018, over 400 actively serving members lives were taken by suicide per year. That's over 400 families on average that lost a loved one. Why is this acceptable and why is this occurring? Wouldn't this be a call-to-action to address the mental health crisis within the military? Why had the focus only been on the COVID-19 vaccine during this time for mission readiness?

https://www.dspo.mil/Portals/113/Documents/QSR/DoD-QSR.pdf

Dated February, 16, 2018, the following unclassified document shared a list of vaccine exemptions forcewide. It’s important to note this was before the pandemic occurred and very difficult to find online currently:

2-5 (1b) would suggest that if a service member was infected and showcased antibodies from serologic tests, they could be exempt from the vaccine. This information from my experience was not disseminated.

Regardless of the information shared in this thread, the DOD was dead set on their objective to vaccinate the entire force and discipline members who refused. And that’s exactly what happened.

After a complete logistical nightmare and a force depletion of nearly 8,000 members separated, on January 10, 2023, SECDEF placed a memorandum to rescind the COVID-19 vaccine mandate:

Under the Trump Administration on January 27, 2025, an executive order was placed to “make reinstatement available to all members of the military (active and reserve) who were discharged solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine with full backpay...”

Why did the DOD rescind the mandate after sticking to their “guns” that this was the best thing for the force? Was this a complete oversight from defense leaders, politicians and medical professionals?

As men and women who raised their right hand and swore to defend and protect this nation, it only makes sense to provide informed consent and mission readiness that outlines the whole human.