The following letter was signed by 38 members of the Alaska Army National Guard, urging Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Sen. Dan Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young to take immediate action to stand up for soldiers who have declined to receive COVID shots.
The Guard is a unique element of the military, responding to domestic emergencies, overseas combat missions, counterdrug efforts and more. Any state governor or the president can call on the Guard in a moment’s notice. These soldiers hold civilian jobs while maintaining their military training part time. Guard soldiers’ primary area of operation is their home state.
The following letter does not represent the official stand of the Alaska Army National Guard, and the service members who signed it did so as private civilians. It was requested that the Alaska Watchman omit the names of all signatories except one. We agreed to do so. Below is the letter in its entirety.
LETTER FROM 38 ALASKA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS
Due to political pressure the current administration has taken yet another troubling step towards valuing the perception of safety over the protection of personal freedoms. As members of your Alaska Army National Guard, we feel compelled to give you the following statement so that you may develop a fully informed position regarding this situation.
Secretary of Defense Austin recently released a memo stating his intent to make the COVID-19 vaccine a requirement by mid-September for all military members. This is only the latest in a disturbing trend of sweeping, one-size-fits-all mandates for all military members. These general and unfocused policies remove decision making power and readiness decisions from the individual American Citizens who have volunteered to serve their country. The attempt to control each service member’s health decision regarding this vaccine is not only infringing on the individual, but also forces their command to determine how to balance broad-based mandates against the health and welfare of their soldiers.
The assumption that members of the military have avoided it merely due to a lack of information or selfishness is condescending and inaccurate
The military was among the first to have vaccines made available to them in December of 2020, and through a variety of measures we have reached the point that every service member who has made the medical choice to receive this vaccine has had the opportunity to do so.
The latest numbers show 50-60% of military members have been vaccinated. It is safe to assume that the remaining percentage are not simply lacking the opportunity to get vaccinated, but rather they have made the informed, personal, medical choice to avoid it. The assumption that members of the military have avoided it merely due to a lack of information or selfishness (the two most common claims made for non-compliance rates) is condescending and inaccurate.
There are many valid reasons we have declined this vaccine. Religious concerns over its research and development, potential for adverse reaction, lack of long-term research, impacts on reproductive health, and prior history of adverse reactions to vaccines are just a few of the legitimate issues held. We simply ask that our country respect our personal health choices as we do for our fellow soldiers on all other issues.
These passionate, courageous individuals have fought America’s wars abroad and served the State of Alaska with pride.
While we are aware of the various religious and medical exemptions we can apply for, it is wrong to put the burden of proof on each individual and leave them to hope the bureaucratic system in place treats them favorably. It is also wrong to take the maintenance of unit readiness away from commanders and unit physicians by implementing generic blanket requirements across the force. These actions demonstrate a lack of trust and faith in your fighting force.
Based on these previously stated concerns and a wide variety of other legitimate and strongly held beliefs, many service members have determined that if the military is to take a hard line, no compromise stance in regard to this vaccine, they will have no option but to separate from the military based on the conflict of their conscience.
America has been blessed with a volunteer fighting force comprised of men and women of conviction. These passionate, courageous individuals have fought America’s wars abroad and served the State of Alaska with pride. This level of conviction also means that many troops have strongly held personal beliefs that do not allow them to comply with this forced vaccination.
Please take immediate action in implementing a solution to allow our dedicated military members to continue serving without compromising their integrity.
Despite the threats of punitive action, principled soldiers cannot serve in an organization that directly conflicts with their conscience and morality.
It would be wrong not to mention that the military as a whole is a healthy and robust demographic who should be considered relatively low-risk. Here in Alaska, many if not most members have either already recovered from COVID-19 and have natural immunity or have been vaccinated already.
We believe it is most likely that should this sweeping mandate be passed it will have a much larger negative impact on military morale, cohesion, and readiness than the impact the military has felt due to COVID-19. Without a doubt, it will greatly impact the Alaska National Guard.
It is easy to be caught up in the narrative and make political recommendations, but please consider our perspective and make a decision regarding what path will have the greatest impact on readiness, and more importantly, which decision protects the Freedoms of America’s Defenders.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
The following soldiers have all served faithfully and loyally and deserve to have their concerns met with an open mind and personal freedom at heart. They deserve to have a voice that protects and fights for their freedoms as they stand ready to do so for America’s. While we understand and respect the need for military readiness and order, this latest attack on the liberty of military members to make individual health decisions is a step in the wrong direction, and for many it is a step that we will not take. Please take immediate action in implementing a solution to allow our dedicated military members to continue serving without compromising their integrity. At a minimum we ask for you to support Rep. Massie’s bill H.R.3860, and assist in developing a streamlined exemption process for the Alaska National Guard members so that we can continue to successfully execute our mission.
“No persons should be more entitled to protection of their constitutional rights than the servicemen engaged in protecting the sovereignty of the United States.” – Sam J. Ervin Jr., Chairman, Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, 88th Congress.
Respectfully,
Michael Miller, Chugiak, AK
18 Comments
Ya we’ll see where this goes
This letter bears out what I have been saying for a long time. The goal is to weed out of the military those individuals with morality, integrity, and patriotism…those who will quit rather than submit to the vax. These are the same individuals who would not follow illegal orders to round up or murder fellow citizens. They purged the generals during the Obama years and now need a military force that will unquestioningly follow orders to support the fascist regime. The politicians won’t save us. The ones who are outraged now are the same politicians who were silent on election day and on the 6th when it really mattered.
That has been going on way before this. The guard has been on several witch hunts, starting in the clinton years. The command has been slowly replaced with democrats (closet communists). Anyone that is patriotic, they run them off.
He better fight like there’s no tomorrow. For all of Alaska.
Dunleavy is hiding in his bunker, while Sullivan, Murkowski and Young are full fledged members of the DC Swamp.
If Dunleavy has a family, to engage in this tyranny is to not only hand over Alaskans to the wolves, but suicide by choice his own family. People have been worried about Communist China invading America? Has anyone noticed China has been wearing masks for decades? Communism started the MOMENT mask mandates were implemented under the guise of “health and safety”. Now it could just be me, but I was attentive in History class and folks, too many sheep are grazing on slave pastures and don’t even know it. How idiotic was it that so many Alaskans, and Americans die that matter were convince from day 1 to cover your airways for a respiratory infection which further damages your airways and immune system? Basic math of a 99.99% recovery rate, the flu DIED in the media and testing, and suddenly now these politicians are rattled? Yeah…they all go down in this sinking ship once the global establishment doesn’t need them anymore. To think they somehow are immune to tyranny is absurd. No. It’s called a global takeover to enslave ALL humanity. Do what’s RIGHT!
What a tyrant of a president, its like we’re under a Marxist regime now. If this a**hole isnt removed we’re all gonna slip into hell.
I believe the civil side is the authority in our national boundaries. Soldiers have the right to ask their elected legislators for help getting remedy for their grievances like the US Constitution is not being followed and it isn’t. The legislators are not doing their jobs. They are disobeying the law regarding the statutory pfd distribution to the people; the legislature has not created a balanced budget within 90 days; the legislature is not responding to grievances and ordering remedy in the well regulated militia requests; the legislature is not doing discovery of grievances of people who are losing work due to usurpations of the Constitution in employment settings; the legislature is complicit in allowing airlines to perhaps unlawfully revome an elected representative from travelling. I believe the legislature will never redress grievances in securing rights and they do so boldly in Alaska thus showing us how callous they are towards the Constitution the idea of Alaska as a state with equal footing. Shall they continue to be paid?
They are all RINO’s – Squishes.
More blah, blah, blah.
Nothing.
No results.
But they’ll talk tough come election time- then revert back to doing the Deep State bidding.
Voting doesn’t work – they’ve corrupted that also.
Only solution, in the end, is a 2nd Ammendment solution – its truly the ONLY thing tyrants understand respond to, and respect.
Sic Semper Tyrannis!
I too will likely be faced with an ultimatum to vaccinate tomorrow when I return to work. I also will write Senator Sullivan today. Tomorrow I will politely and adamantly refuse that ultimatum. I urge everyone else to do the same when their time comes. The drugs currently available DO NOT have full FDA approval, only emergency use authorization. Pfizer Comirnaty, the drug which has, is not available, and will likely not be for the foreseeable future as Pfizer will have to accept full responsibility for adverse consequences which are approaching 700,000, with over 14,000 of those consequences being deaths, as reported by CDC Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
Their argument is completely irrelevant and inappropriate at this point, with an FDA approved vaccine. Mandatory vaccines in the U.S. military have been administered to troops since George Washington commanded the Continental Army. Over several decades of service, I don’t remember anyone ever asking for my opinion or shot preferences before I got jabbed for multiple illnesses, including typhoid, tetanus, yellow fever, plague, the flu and others. These “soldiers” need to suck it up or face UCMJ action for failure to follow orders, and then resign or decline to re-enlist.
FDA has not approved the vaccine please read the letter that was submitted by the FDA and you will see the approval was for the actual name to be used not the approval. Educate yourself before you speak on an issue you have no information to back up your claim. Approval can not be made until all the long term side effects are understood. The letter even talks about the clinical trial that must be accomplished.
On August 23, the FDA only reissued the EUA for Pfizer. An approved vaccine isn’t available yet. The current vaccines are available under EUA. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that authorizes the FDA to grant emergency use authorization also requires the secretary of Health and Human Services to “ensure that individuals to whom the product is administered are informed … of the option to accept or refuse administration of the product.” 21 U.S. Code § 360bbb–3 – Authorization for medical products for use in emergencies
http. s://ww. w. fda. gov/media/150386/download
An approved vaccine isn’t available yet. The current vaccines are available under EUA. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that authorizes the FDA to grant emergency use authorization also requires the secretary of Health and Human Services to “ensure that individuals to whom the product is administered are informed … of the option to accept or refuse administration of the product.” 21 U.S. Code § 360bbb–3 – Authorization for medical products for use in emergencies
More and more are waking up to the shenanigans.. defend our Troops and our HUMAN RIGHT to choose.
We don’t need you in order to retain our autonomy.. but you’d best abide by the people right over their own bodies.
We are not property of the state..
The FDA acknowledges that while Pfizer has “insufficient stocks” of the newly licensed Comirnaty vaccine available, there is “a significant amount” of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine — produced under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) — still available for use.
The FDA decrees that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine under the EUA should remain unlicensed but can be used “interchangeably” (page 2, footnote 8) with the newly licensed Comirnaty product. FDA. 23 Aug 21.
Two FDA employees resigned because of political pressure to approve. Such political pressure was not tolerated before this bioweapon development. There are reports that the bioweapon was developed in another country and paid for by US taxpayers who did not consent to this use of their funds. Typically when a product producing illness is produced the anecdote is researched nearly simultaneously. So the only ones hoodwinked are Americans. Nasty policy and most unfriendly to make Americans pay for an illness then force them to take the gene therapy even if it is against their religious values. To issue such orders is spiritually vacuous at best.
Looks like we’re moving one step closer to invoking one of our last lines of defense in accordance with the Constitution. “I am the Militia”