Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Wednesday fired off a letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, demanding to know why the Air Force is ignoring a federal court order issued last week prohibiting it from taking any measures to discharge airmen who filed for religious exemption from the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine military mandate, Breitbart News can reveal.
“In a time when our nation is in desperate need of able-bodied fighting men, we cannot afford to involuntarily separate loyal airman with a career of honorable service in the United States Air Force,” wrote Gaetz, who has taken a prominent role in opposing the military vaccine mandate in Congress.
Gaetz wrote to Kendall and Air Force Judge Advocate General Jeffrey A. Rockwell in his letter (emphasis added):
On July 14, 2022, Judge McFarland of The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) on behalf of Air Force servicemen against the Department of the Air Force, enjoining and restraining the Air Force from taking any disciplinary or separation measures against these servicemen for their refusal to get vaccinated for COVID-19. In the order, Judge McFarland states that these “disciplinary or separation measures include, but are not limited to, ‘adverse administrative actions, non-judicial punishment, administration demotions, administrative discharges, and courts-martial.’”
On July 18, 2022, Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) Carl E. Schaefer, Deputy Commander of the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), sent out an AFMC-wide email summarizing the TRO, which taking a loose interpretation of the Judge’s order, advised the AFMC to continue with involuntary separation processing up to and including obtaining a board’s recommendation to discharge, while stopping short of executing the discharge itself.
Hence, despite the TRO, Master Sergeant (MSgt) Nickolas Kupper, and other airmen who are parties to the Doster case, have had adversarial proceedings against them continue. MSgt Kupper has been asked to decide of whether he wants a separation board in 7 duty days. The continuation of these adversarial proceedings is in direct opposition to the intent of Judge McFarland’s TRO and must not continue until the TRO has expired.
Last week, a federal court in Ohio ordered a temporary restraining order against the Air Force prohibiting it from taking measures to discipline or discharge any airman who had filed for a religious exemption from taking the COVID-19 vaccine, as ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Since then, however, airmen have been notified that separation measures are still proceeding short of discharge.
The TRO was part of an order that granted the plantiffs’ motion to extend an injunction from a March 2022 case prohibiting the Air Force from discharging a group of airmen who filed for religious exemption to all airmen who filed for religious exemption.
The 14-day TRO may become permanent if the Air Force does not successfully convince the judge why the airmen should not be considered a class by July 21, 2022.
Gaetz demanded that Kendall and Rockwell investigate and provide an explanation no later than July 25, 2022.
Kupper, a father of four — including an adopted special needs child, has served in the Air Force for 19 years and is at risk of being separated just one year shy of being eligible for retirement benefits. He has been fighting the mandate on the basis of his religious beliefs.
“I’ve been counting on this 20-year retirement for the past 19 years. That’s been the plan. And all because they won’t grant me a religious exemption waiver. You know, they’re looking to kick me out. Actually, as of tomorrow,” Kupper said recently on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.
“After 19 years, they’re gonna throw everything away that that I’ve worked for, but I’m just one of hundreds of thousands of people who are being kicked out because we won’t take an illegal emergency use vaccine,” he said.
Kupper’s case has helped to highlight the plight of service members seeking religious exemption from the vaccine.
After Kupper appeared on Carlson’s show, the Air Force sent him a letter of reprimand.
The Air Force is also demanding that Kupper decide within days whether he wants a separation board, which would make a recommendation on whether to retain him or discharge him, despite the court order.
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