Thread by @RepMikeJohnson

The Army Reserve and Army National Guard deadline imposed by @SecDef for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination is June 30th.

🧵THREAD on the effects of the military vaccine mandate so far:

.@SecDef’s COVID vaccine mandate is causing major damage to the readiness of our Armed Forces, particularly our Army:

At this moment, 13% of the National Guard, 10% of the Reserve, and at least 24,250 active soldiers face expulsion for not receiving the mandatory COVID vaccine.

In some states, approximately 25% of National Guardsmen are unvaccinated.

Remember, Guard work is part-time, so Guardsmen don’t have to follow a mandate in order to keep their livelihoods.

Imagine staying in business after losing 25% of your company.

Thanks to @SecDef’s vax mandate, in addition to Army retention, Army recruitment is also failing:

The Army has met just 40% of its recruiting target for 2022 — DESPITE dropping the requirement to have a high school diploma or GED.

And the recruiting crisis is only accelerating:

In April, the Army offered $10K for potential recruits to go to basic training within 30 days. In June they offered $25K, and last week the Army began offering recruits in any career field $35K to ship to training.

Over 40% of 18-24 year old men have refused the COVID vaccine. This is the Army’s target demographic.

In the Southern U.S. — which produces nearly half of enlistments — the proportion of unvaccinated young men is even higher.

Here’s the BOTTOM LINE:

The Biden Administration is destroying the readiness of our Armed Forces by creating an unnecessary recruiting and retention shortfall, and trying to make up the difference by lowering other crucial education and fitness standards.

All of this over an illness that is very, very, very, unlikely to have any significant effect on the young men and women of our military, and a vaccine that lacks long-term data on safety and efficacy for this cohort.

There is simply no other way around it:

Until @SecDef withdraws, delays, or modifies the vax mandate, or begins rapidly granting more exemptions, our military will have to continue lowering recruitment standards—degrading the readiness and professionalism of our Armed Forces.