If you’d asked me, I would have predicted that the Air Force would have the worst COVID-19 vaccine compliance rate of any of the service branches. This is because I consider the Air Force the most Republican branch, and the most rife with conservative Christians. But it turns out the correct answer is the Marines:
Up to 10,000 active-duty Marines will not be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus when their deadline arrives in coming days, a trajectory expected to yield the U.S. military’s worst immunization rate.
While 94 percent of Marine Corps personnel have met the vaccination requirement or are on a path to do so, according to the latest official data, for the remainder it is too late to begin a regimen and complete it by the service’s Nov. 28 deadline. Within an institution built upon the belief that orders are to be obeyed, and one that brands itself the nation’s premier crisis-response force, it is a vexing outcome.
Of course, I wasn’t off by much.
The holdouts will join approximately 9,600 Air Force personnel who have outright refused the vaccine, did not report their status, or sought an exemption on medical or religious grounds, causing a dilemma for commanders tasked with maintaining combat-ready forces — and marking the latest showdown over President Biden’s authority to impose vaccination as a condition of continued government service.
I suspect that the poor compliance rate with the Marines isn’t so much a matter of Trumpy infestation as it is a culture that emphasizes fearlessness and affects an air of indestructibility. Many Marines don’t want to admit that an invisible virus might be a formidable foe, or that they need more than their wits and inherent toughness to defeat it.
But they only need to look at the NFL to see that an outbreak of COVID-19 can decimate troop readiness, disrupt training, and negatively impact cohesion. We prize the Marines for their bravery and sacrifice, not their stupidity. We want them to be tough, not foolish.
Of course, it’s true that we don’t want to see widespread insubordination in any military branch. This is happening almost entirely because room has been carved out to excuse it by Trump-styled Republicans and operatives who say freedom is on the line.
They’re right that freedom in on the line, but not for the reason they suggest.
You sign up for the service, you don’t have that freedom. That argument just doesn’t apply to service members.
Interesting about the attitudes of different armed forces.
I have an Ohio relative who’s retired Air Force, working in health care with COVID patients in the thick of Florida. She’s been conservative her whole life, but is adamantly pro-vaccine. She’s broken ranks with colleagues, friends, house cleaners, relatives, etc who will not get vaccinated, and nags her siblings, my parents, etc about safe travel practices. She’s expressed that anyone who advocates for having vaccinations as a “personal choice” is just making excuses (except in stronger language). I think in this case, what she’s experiencing in the health care world is trumping any conservative messaging. So that’s one anecdotal data point.
I’m in NC, and Pender County out on the coast (home of the Camp Lejeune Marine base) has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state. Similar to in the NFL, I wonder at what point COVID will impact the Marines enough for the commanders to start enforcing that.
I highly encourage all current and future Republican voters to forgo vaccines, seatbelts, FDA drug warnings, etc, as they only exist to destroy those Republicans’ personal liberties.
Stop trying to get in the way of our enemies making mistakes.