TAG: Vaccine Mandate A Threat to Readiness

The adjutant general of Florida says the Defense Department’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate seriously threatens military readiness.

Maj. Gen. James O. Eifert adds making American troops get the vaccine endangers national security.

“I’ve never been more worried about the future of the U.S. armed forces than I am right now,” he said in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed.

“One of the military’s most foundational duties is to recruit and retain men and women willing to defend their country,” Eifert added. “Unfortunately, current federal policy is rendering that goal unobtainable.”

Eifert is thought to be the first general officer to speak out on the vaccine mandate, doing so in his capacity as a state official. His byline didn’t include his rank.

“The Army secretary’s deadline for all reserve component soldiers to be vaccinated expired on June 30, leaving almost 40,000 National Guard members and 20,000 Army Reservists nationwide at risk of involuntary termination,” he argued.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Eifert the Florida adjutant general in 2019.