Oklahoma National Guard is putting its troops at risk in 'Russian roulette' over COVID vaccines
The commanding general of Oklahoma's National Guard is defending his decision not to punish any of the state's Guardsmen who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine, in a high-stakes defiance of the Defense Department's vaccine mandate for troops.
According to a recording obtained by The Washington Post, Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino said he was only following orders from Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt during a town hall event with troops in Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
Amid signs that other states might follow Oklahoma's suit, a military law expert warned that Mancino was putting the lives and livelihood of his Guardsmen on the line in the showdown with the Biden administration.
"If, for example, a sergeant in the Guard does not have the vaccine, they risk their own federal recognition," Dwight Stirling, a military law expert, told Insider. "Which means they can be fired by the National Guard."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/expert-oklahoma-national-guard-is-putting-its-troops-at-risk-in-russian-roulette-with-the-biden-administration-over-covid-vaccines/ar-AAQSqMA