Pentagon orders National Guard members to be vaccinated or face loss of pay

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Pentagon orders National Guard members to be vaccinated or face loss of pay

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered all members of the National Guard and Reserve to receive Covid vaccine or face loss of pay, and be marked absent without cause from drills and training, according to a memo obtained by NBC News.

On August 24, Austin made the Covid vaccine mandatory for all service members and directed the secretaries of the military services to issue their own implementation guidance and timelines. The mandate was extended to all service members on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard.

On Nov. 2, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma wrote a letter to Austin, asking him to rescind the vaccine mandate for members of the Oklahoma National Guard. Stitt appointed a new adjutant general of the Oklahoma National Guard who said he would not enforce the vaccine mandate.

On Monday, Austin responded to Stitt, denying his request to rescind the mandate for the Oklahoma National Guard. The Pentagon plans to enforce the mandate for members of the National Guard while they are on state duty, but it wasn't clear how it would be. Members are state duty and answer to their governor a lot of the time when they are training.

The memo issued by Austin on Tuesday lays out three ways the Pentagon can enforce the mandate, even while members of the Guard are on state duty.

According to the memo, members must be fully vaccinated in order to participate in drills and training, as well as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of Pentagon personnel, and the highest ranking officer in the National Guard, according to the memo.

If they don't participate, they'll get no credit for the time served and won't get excuses for their absences, which will affect the days they accumulate towards retirement. If they are not vaccinated, they won't get any pay when training or activated on state duty. Members of the National Guard are paid with federal money.

Austin ordered the secretaries of the military branches and the Pentagon's personnel chief to issue similar guidance to the Guard and Reserve members of their respective branches. The policy and implementation guidance must be published no later than December 6, 2021.

More than 400,000 Americans are in the National Guard. The Oklahoma National Guard has about 8,000 members.