More than a dozen cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, face expulsion — and potential six-figure bills for their otherwise-free education — after refusing vaccination against COVID-19 on religious grounds.
Four of the affected cadets are due to graduate and receive their commissions on May 25 but were officially reprimanded by Brig. Gen. Paul D. Moga, the school’s commandant. The other cadets range from freshmen to juniors at the school in what one critic is calling a “religious purge” at the school.
One unnamed graduating cadet, said to be a cancer survivor, began taking the vaccine, attorney Mike Rose said in a telephone interview. That student felt compelled to submit because they did not want to lose their medical coverage, but Mr. Rose said they were now “in anguish” over accepting the jab.
The Pentagon ordered all military and civilian personnel to be vaccinated in 2021, as President Biden was issuing a similar mandate for the federal workforce. Only a handful of service personnel have been exempted citing religious objections to the vaccine.
A letter of reprimand spelled out the potential consequences to cadets who refused the vaccine and were not granted an exemption.
“If you are a first-degree [senior] cadet, you will not be permitted to graduate or commission [sic] unless you have begun a COVID-19 vaccine regimen,” Gen. Moga wrote in a May 9 letter provided to The Washington Times.
Those affected face an August 1 deadline for being vaccinated or else they will be “disenrolled” from the school with potential recommendations for “recovery” of tuition — which could range up to $200,000, Mr. Rose said.
On Wednesday, Mr. Rose, who represents Jameson Barnard, one of the reprimanded cadets, said his client had received a text message stating the unvaccinated student would be allowed to graduate next week, but would not receive a commission, a communication the Air Force says never happened.
A Department of the Air Force spokesperson told The Washington Times via email, “No such conversation has occurred. [Air Force Academy] leaders are working directly with cadets on their journey to graduation/commissioning to ensure all military requirements are met for a ready force.”
A spokesman at the Academy did not respond to a request for comment on the reported graduation permission.
Those supporting the unvaccinated students say the service is disregarding legally required protections based on religious beliefs.
“I was extremely disappointed to hear that the United Air Force Academy is planning to deny these four cadets the opportunity to graduate and serve our nation because of their request to uphold their tightly held religious beliefs,” Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Republican whose district includes the Academy, said in a statement. “… It is imperative that our military leaders uphold the constitutional rights of these cadets.”
Mr. Lamborn authored an amendment to the Defense Department’s fiscal 2022 authorization law signed by President Biden requiring Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to establish “uniform standards under which service members may be exempted from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine for administrative, medical, or religious reasons.”
According to Chaplain Gordon James Klinginschmitt, a former Colorado state representative, the reprimands signal something greater than a medical issue.
“This is a punishment for their religion,” Mr. Klinginschmitt said in a telephone interview. “It’s not about the vaccine. It’s about their religious conscience and their politically incorrect Christian beliefs. It’s a religious purge by the Biden administration.”
He said Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark, superintendent of the Air Force Academy, violated a public pledge made twice last year to “protect religious freedom” for cadets at the school.
Gen. Clark “signed the denial of all the religious waivers himself, after publicly promising that he would defend religious freedom. So here’s a man who is double-speaking: he says one thing and does the opposite,” Mr. Klinginschmitt said.
According to Lt. Col. Brian L. Maguire, public affairs director at the school, “Even if an individual holds a sincerely held religious belief, the decision authority, in this instance the Superintendent, must weigh that belief against the compelling government interest of ensuring a safe and ready force — crucial to meet global deployment responsibilities.”
He added, “We want to see these cadets graduate and commission, but they must meet the military requirements necessary for a ready force.”
The issue of COVID-19 vaccine mandate exemptions for members of the armed forces remains a contentious one. Few active-duty military personnel have received such exemptions, although 14 Republicans in the Senate last week introduced a measure to blunt what Sen. James Lankford, Oklahoma Republican, called an “unnecessary mandate.”