Unvaccinated Navy personnel who are still working to get religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccination are “locked in limbo” and being forced to endure appalling living conditions on a ship because the military won’t let them leave the service.
The case was first brought by charity First Liberty Institute in November on behalf of 35 active-duty Navy SEALs, but it has now expanded to include all Navy personnel who are seeking religious accommodations.
According to First Liberty, there are presently 4,244 exemption requests outstanding, but the Navy has only approved 189 short-term and 22 permanent medical exemptions. As of late July, about 1,500 sailors have left the Navy as a result of the vaccination obligation.
The US Navy has not yet granted a single request for a religious accommodation. Additionally, it seems that the Navy is not providing religious service members with the correct legal consideration needed by law, according to a statement on First Liberty Institute’s website.
The campaign against the vaccination requirement is being aggressively led by our clients, but no service member should be punished for upholding their religious beliefs.
However, according to the Navy’s website, as of late July, both active-duty personnel and reserve personnel were granted 44 religious exemptions.
According to the claim, an unspecified number of military personnel allegedly had to put up with filthy housing conditions, sewage floods on an unspecified vessel, backed-up toilets and showers, and other horrible living circumstances.
According to soldiers, they were informed they could not leave the military because of the ongoing legal action.
Unidentified soldier said that after asking to be discharged from the military owing to the vaccination obligation, they were informed they “could not leave the region.” According to Fox News, he was transferred aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft berthing barge.
I transferred to the berthing barge for the Eisenhower since I was unable to depart the area. They said in the June filing, which Fox News was allowed to read, “The circumstances aboard the barge are awful, much like the USS George Washington, which is moored at the same shipyard.”
The barge’s toilets back up and leak, and there is mould everywhere. Water seeps from the toilet’s base, accumulating near my rack before spilling into the hallway.
It enters the berthings on the other side during unfavourable days. It smells like sewage and seems to be sewage, thus the leaks must be sewage.
The sailor further claimed that the toilet bowl water and the flooring where the leak originated were home to “some type of worm.”
They said, “I have spoken with mental health services on several occasions.” “I do want to be removed from the Navy as soon as possible—desperately.
However, I struggle with withdrawing my request because I believe that doing so could imply that my religious objection—which is genuine—was not sincere.
In the case, another soldier claimed that despite his wife’s due date for their second kid being in August 2022, he was prohibited from leaving the service.
The soldier said, “My wife and I sold our home in preparation for our separation, and my wife and one-year-old kid went to another state.”
“The Navy has informed me that I am not permitted to split from the Navy owing to this case,” you say, “therefore I have been unable to join her and my kid, or to start my new career.”
A Navy technician with nine years of service claimed that they received a worse performance rating as a result of the anticipated exemption.
In previous reviews, the technician always received the rating “must promote,” but in the most recent one, they only received the rating “promote.”
“This drop in status gives the impression that my seamanship abilities have deteriorated.
They stated in written evidence, “I have continued to work throughout the year and was informed during a briefing on my assessment that the grade was not related to my performance, but rather my impending separation owing to the rejection of my religious accommodation.
Additionally, they said that the “very toxic” work atmosphere generated by the vaccination controversy has stressed them out.
In their letter, they said, “I do not intend to be a member of the United States Navy longer due to the suffering and stress this process has caused to my family.”
The Navy released 45 military personnel in January, including 23 who were on active duty.
A month after a federal court in Fort Worth suspended the requirement, the US Navy asked the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals to restore the COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
The three-judge panel said that the evidence “indicates that the Navy has successfully loaded the deck against even those exclusions endorsed by Plaintiffs’ immediate commanding officers and military chaplains.”
The other branches of the military are also having problems with people asking for exemptions, as well.
According to an August report, the Army has separated from 1,500 troops, despite having a 96 percent vaccination rate.
Only 27 permanent medical and 24 permanent religious exemptions have been accepted by the Army. 971 and 1,521 have been rejected, respectively.
In all, 676 medical, 932 administrative, and 98 religious exemptions have been authorised by the Air Force. As of late June, 6,642 religious exemption requests had been rejected.
As of August, the Marines has issued 545 medical and administrative exemptions in addition to 11 religious exemptions.