Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, USA-Ret., told governors to put their money where their mouth is and support National Guard members.
In a Saturday Western Journal editorial, the former U.S. National Security Advisor bashed the Biden administration’s mandatory military vaccination policy.
The retired army officer stated Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin threatened to stop training and paying unvaccinated National Guardsmen and reservists.
“Last week, the U.S. Army announced that roughly 40,000 National Guardsmen and 22,000 reservists will be prevented from reporting for duty for declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” Flynn remarked. “Austin’s decision cuts off pay and benefits to the combined 62,000 troops and blocks them from active service and even training.”
“Without the National Guard and our reserve military forces, we are incomplete as a fighting force.”
The U.S. last used a military draft in 1973, relying on the concept of an all-volunteer force since the Vietnam conflict. Flynn declared that sidelining so many reservists and guardsmen may leave the country militarily unprepared, which might require resorting to a draft to quickly ramp up numbers in a crisis.
He noted that the news outlet publishing his editorial previously reported 1,148 active-duty soldiers were fired by the military for not complying with vaccine mandates, a number predicted to swell substantially soon if the COVID-19 vaccination mandate is not ended.
“The Army is already having severe difficulty recruiting,” Flynn explained, noting 2021 recruiting fell short for Reserves and the National Guard. The Reserves fulfilled 73.6 percent of its recruiting goal last year while the National Guard met 80.6 percent of its goal, according to the report from the Washington Examiner.
Flynn noted appeals to the president seem to have fallen on deaf ears and litigation has gone nowhere because, he said, federal courts hesitate to interfere with military matters. So, he offered advice for “red states.”
“Instead of fruitless appeals to a tone-deaf administration or uphill struggles in federal court, Republican governors and state legislatures should stand in the gap and reach into their own pockets to cover lost pay and benefits for the Guard and Reserve,” he declared. He pointed to “rainy day” funds as a possible payment source, which are flush in most states because of a previously strong economy.
In June, a group of Tennessee National Guardsmen presented a petition to Gov. Bill Lee, R-Tenn., asking him to fight for them. “It is your duty before God and the citizens of the great state of Tennessee, sir, to help these men and women,” the petition stated. “Please stop them from being fired, sir!”
“It is time for the elected governors and state legislators to do what is already in their power,” Flynn concluded. “How this would be done is complicated, but they must stand in the gap and cover the costs of pay and benefits for our Guard troops.”
“Someone needs to interpose to protect them from Biden’s assault.”
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