Military Accountability in the Post-COVID Age
What Military Accountability for COVID Looks Like
Chase Spears
It’s not about revenge—it’s about a proper response to an irresponsible leadership class.
Roughly a year before President Trump was inaugurated for the second time, I joined a group of 230 veterans in signing the Declaration of Military Accountability. It seeks justice for the violation of military members’ rights of conscience during the COVID era and calls for steps to be taken to make amends for abuses of command authority. Having lived through the terror of weaponized institutions being directed at us and our loved ones, those of us who are calling for a return to constitutional rule in the Armed Forces have no interest in an inquisition. It is not a technique we wish to make part of the American tradition. But systems of law remain trustworthy only when they uphold and administer justice.
There are three basic camps among top military management that enforced the Pentagon’s illegal shot mandate.
The Concerned Institutionalists had reservations about the legality and ethics of the Department of War’s COVID policies and enforced them with mercy and flexibility for those under their charge. They recognized that shot, mask, and testing mandates were morally suspect and tempered enforcement with sympathy. Though these supervisory officials personally adhered to immoral policies, they avoided acting in punitive ways toward subordinates who had moral and ethical concerns.
The Deceived Followers believed Lloyd Austin’s COVID policy to be lawful, yet tried to enforce it in ways that still granted a sense of dignity to those who correctly perceived the mandates to be wrong.
This brings us to the third group: Prejudicial Mercenaries. These military officials enforced the shot mandate vindictively and maliciously, shaming those who held moral, religious, or medical concerns. Some went so far as to measure their subordinates’ personal honor and integrity based on their views of mandates for emergency use authorization shots, masking, and testing regimens. This particular tribe presents a clear threat to liberty, both for military members and the American public.
During his 2024 campaign, President Trump sympathized with troops who faced the choice of taking an objectionable jab or forfeiting their careers. At a town hall on October 4, 2024, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Trump responded with the following after former Green Beret John Frankman asked him whether senior military officers would have to answer for pushing the shot mandate: “There would be accountability, that’s right. We’ll fire their asses.” Yet we are now months into the second Trump Administration, and many veterans who enthusiastically supported both Trump’s candidacy and Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Pentagon are still wondering if senior leaders will be held to account.
However, there are limited, but encouraging, signs on that front.
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The degree to which COVID policy wrongs were done varies. Some people who took the shot are fine. Many are suffering tremendous physical debilitations that are irreversible. For others, the injury is of a moral nature. Those of us calling for military accountability are not naïve enough to believe that an apology here or a conviction for breaking the law or abusing subordinates there will undo the damage. But legitimate systems of justice still speak, even if they cannot turn back the hands of time.
Category: Big Pentagon
At a minimum, every “Prejudicial Mercenary” who was promoted during COVIDiocy should be reduced in rank. But I’d rather seem them shitcanned entirely.
All those who forced the clot shot should be busted to E-1 and forced to do KP duty (mess cook for Navy) for the next four years.
Right and Admirals forced to do mess duty can work in the scullery washing pots and pans and be called Admiral of the Vessels. Mentioned the same awhile ago on another post.
I, personally, have no qualms about prosecuting all those who abused their authority, supported the tyrants, and did permanent and irreparable harm to our military and their families.
I support Bad Cookie Discharges for each and every one of them, with financial penalties for all those of O2 rank and higher.
Darth Fatass, the only man to get a participation Silver Star because they don’t come without “V” for a service award.
Damn, I had to look this up and sure enough, it reads like a participation award. We (3/187 IN, 101st) were there, attached to 3ID as Light Infantry support, along with a battalion from 325th PIR, 82nd. Odd that the CG, an ADC, and a brigade commander from 3ID all got Silver Stars. I was a lowly PFC, but the only time I recall seeing any senior 3ID officer was when I pissed off the other ADC at the ECP to Camp New Jersey. He didn’t like my failure to salute in a non-salute zone and really didn’t like it when I made him put his window down and show his ID.
Granted, we were but one battalion caught up in the midst of the Battle of Baghdad, and we mostly operated at the company and platoon level, but I don’t recall seeing Austin standing atop a Bradley or Abrams, personally leading the charge into the city. We all got the Presidential Unit Citation (the only battalion from the 101st to have received one for OIF, if I’m not mistaken.), which I would think would be sufficient enough for divisional leadership, along with their obligatory BSMs and perhaps more senior awards for “exceptional leadership” or some nonsense.
Thank you both for your input on his SSM. I guess things never change.
Small world. I served with 3/187 years later, from 2011 to 2016. I still get nightmares from running Angel’s Gate.
It’s about accountability. This is not revenge. And not just talking about the military. The hook, line, and sinker buy in to the propaganda blows my mind. As humans we lived in caves. We didn’t evolve wearing masks.
We ate dirt as kids (maybe Marines ate more than most but that’s up for them and Army to fight it out).
This hyper-sterile environment thinking is big pharma control selling society some bullshit.
I never complied and came close to not being able to fly on a major airline when I stood my ground when it was all said and done.
I could name an O-5 from the third category, if SecWar would be interested. Really got his jollies off watching the TXARNG state surgeon browbeat several companies worth of SMs with reservations about the jab.
God bless Greg Abbott for, among other things, not allowing that duo to force masks on us throughout 2022.