*This article was originally shared by TheFlame November 15, 2022.
The United States Coast Guard, founded on August 4, 1790, is the longest seagoing service in the nation. While the Coast Guard is the oldest service, it is also the smallest, comprised of only around 50,000 members both active duty and reservists. Losing any of these highly trained members would be extremely detrimental to the service they give, the jobs they do, and the lives they save. Unfortunately, unless a ruling is granted by the courts in favor of these men and women, thousands of hard working and dedicated service members will be discharged due to the unlawful Covid-19 vaccine mandate.
The Coast Guard is the only branch of the military that is under the Department of Homeland Security as they are both a military force and a federal law enforcement agency tasked with enforcing the nation’s maritime laws. The current sitting Commandant of the Coast Guard touts an environment of diversity and inclusive climates. One of the Commandant’s current Facebook posts states that they are working to transform their total workforce, continuing to advance diversity and inclusion, increasing focus on the role of leadership in achieving inclusive climates, and strengthening accountability for harassing behaviors that create unsafe and toxic work environments. This statement is false in its entirety.
The actual current climate of the Coast Guard is clear to the thousands of men and women being chastised, harassed, discriminated against, and forced out against their will for being unvaccinated. The Coast Guard blanket denied their religious accommodation requests using an automated tool that would deny their initial request or appeal no matter what their argument was. Each member who submitted a religious accommodation request was harassed, called names, singled out, and many were confined to their home or base and not allowed to leave or travel while the vaccinated traveled freely and continued to spread the virus. The same members who the Coast Guard told were not “mission ready” for being unvaccinated were those who were standing extra watches and extra duty days to cover for those who had become sick with Covid-19 after complying with the unlawful vaccine mandate issued by the Coast Guard. These are also the same members who have responded to thousands of maritime emergencies and saved countless lives after repeatedly being told by their commands that they were going to kill someone simply for not receiving a vaccine. The incessant bullying and degrading comments towards the unvaccinated members show the blatant hypocrisy of the Commandant’s repeated statements about inclusion and diversity, which is astounding and disrespectful.
The true reality of the actions the Coast Guard has taken against their members is that this highly important service that saves lives and property, interdicts illegal migrants and drugs coming into the United States, and countless other missions will be so severely depleted of their highly trained members that they truly will no longer be an effective, mission ready service and so many lives will be lost. If your boat had capsized in the Bering Sea and a Rescue Swimmer jumped into the frigid cold waters to sacrifice his life to save yours, would you ask their vaccination status before they pulled you from the water? No, you would just want them to do their job.
When I, and so many others, joined the Coast Guard, it was because we wanted to save lives. We wrote a blank check for up to and including our life that could be cashed in at any moment to save another. What these members have been given in return is to be forced into being sacrificed by the service they have committed their lives to so that the service can further its own clear political agenda and disregard religious beliefs all while claiming an inclusive and diverse workforce. Nearly every member who has been denied a religious accommodation has also been denied advancement in rank even if they are at the top of the advancement list, denied required and necessary training to complete their missions, and have endured hostile work environments. Some of the hostility in the work environment is constant threat of job loss, many have already lost theirs. Members have had approved retirement requests and then suddenly the approval was reversed, and they were discharged in a matter of days. Others have been illegally demoted, stripped of their hard-earned status as a Silver Badge or other high-ranking authority and will never be allowed to return to that position. Discharges are happening rapidly, without honorable discharge codes, which affects them for the remainder of their life in the civilian sector. They are also losing their GI-bill benefits, which means now they will not only have to quickly find jobs to support their families, but they will also no longer be given the benefit of school being paid for, nor can they pass that on to their children. Although, if you ask the Department of Justice attorneys, they claim nobody has been discharged for the mandate. This is a complete fallacy concocted to maintain their narrative.
During the fight to save their jobs so they can continue to save others, these members, who have been told they are not mission ready, continue to contribute and work towards the future of the Coast Guard. They carry on conducting all missions the Coast Guard requires even while they sit in limbo at the never-ending threat of being thrown out with tomorrow’s garbage. These members and their families are stressed, anxious and devastated by the actions of the Coast Guard and its sad excuse for leadership. If we lose these individuals, the service will never be the same and thousands, both military and civilian, will suffer. Silent Majority Foundation will continue this fight in court and work to save the lives of those who sacrifice their own to save others. Please support your men and women in the Coast Guard whether it is through donations for this fight, or simply being an ear for them to listen to. They need us now more than ever.