Tag Archives: mike berry

Report: Navy Violating Vaccine Mandate Injunction

As previously reported, a US District Court has told the US Navy not to punish or discharge nearly three dozen SEALs and other operators who have religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine. However, First Liberty Institute, representing those SEALs, says the Navy is continuing to mistreat the sailors in violation of the court’s order:

One of those included a service member, identified as “Navy SEAL 26,” who requested permission to travel to a program for traumatic brain injuries. According to the complaint, “multiple high-ranking Naval officers in SEAL 26’s command began calling the treatment center and asking if it would deny treatment to someone who is unvaccinated.”

It added that the treatment center wouldn’t comply but “the result is that the Navy ran out the clock on SEAL 26’s request again: the treatment center had to give his spot to another patient because SEAL 26 had not been given approval to attend.”

Within the rules of the military, this is arguably a common technique to take punitive action without actually taking action. The Navy can try to say, with some disingenuous sincerity, that according to its policies “no adverse action” was taken against the SEAL — because there was no official “action” taken. Worse, the sailors can’t “appeal” an administrative non-action, leaving them with no recourse.

In this case, however, the Navy is not beholden only to Read more

Marines Accused of Farce After Granting Two Religious Vaccine Exemptions

The US Marine Corps has reportedly granted two Marines the freedom to not receive the COVID-19 vaccine — the first, and only, exemptions of the 13,000 requests made in the US military. This seems like a (very) small step in the right direction, but reports indicate both of those Marines had already been denied and then had to appeal – and the only reason their appeals were approved was they were both already outprocessing the Corps, essentially making their exemption moot [emphasis added]:

One of the Marines, according to the officer, was on terminal leave when the appeal was granted, meaning that member was already in the process of separating from the military.

The other Marine who was granted an appeal, according to the officer, was in the SkillBridge program, which allows members who are within 180 days of release from active duty to locate career opportunities as they transition into civilian life.

So now the Marines can rebut accusations of “blanket denials” by showing that they have granted two (two!) exemptions to US Marines who asked for a religious exemption…and who will shortly be civilians.

Mike Berry, First Liberty’s General Counsel, is incredulous, noting the US military has repeatedly highlighted the fact it hasn’t granted a religious exemption to vaccines in decades — and yet, suddenly it did.

That said, an inside source indicated the Marines were still Read more

District Court Stays Navy SEAL Vaccine Requirement

In a little reported headline, a US District Court judge issued a temporary injunction preventing the US military from punishing or discharging 35 US Navy SEALs and reservists who have religious objections to the COVID vaccine:

Judge Reed O’Connor, the U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas, issued the stay in response to a lawsuit filed by First Liberty Institute in November on behalf of 35 active-duty SEALs and three reservists seeking a religious exemption…

Despite saying they would offer a religious exemption, the US military has famously granted exactly zero such exemptions (of more than 15,000 requests), leading to skepticism of Read more

Navy SEALS File Lawsuit Over COVID Vaccine Religious Exemptions

First Liberty Institute has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf 26 US Navy SEALs, 5 Navy EOD techs, and 3 Navy Divers who have religious objections to the mandated COVID vaccine, yet aren’t being granted religious exemptions. As noted at FoxNews [emphasis added]:

Fox News previously reported that for some SEALs seeking religious exemptions to the mandate, the process is nearly impossible to successfully complete to get a waiver. In addition, a series of new directives by the Navy are promising severe punishment, including court-martial (criminal) prosecution, revocation of special operator status, drastic pay cuts and a ban on travel for SEALs who do not comply with the mandate by the end of November.

After the lawsuit was filed, Stars and Stripes noted no branch of the military has Read more

General Declines to Punish Chaplain Calvert over Transgender Comments

The Army has decided not to punish US Army Chaplain (Maj) Andrew Calvert with a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand, creating the path for his record to be cleared.

In January, Calvert commented on an Army Times Facebook post that discussed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s support for allowing transgenders to serve in the US military. Calvert’s comments – which questioned the mental fitness of transgenders for military service and noted the similarity with believing the earth to be flat in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary – drew criticisms and a formal investigation.

The Army’s 15-6 investigation declared that Chaplain Calvert had committed unlawful discrimination and improper political activity – points that didn’t seem to be supported by the facts. Further, since Chaplain Calvert was clearly expressing his personal and religious views – and not any official view of the Army – it was the Army, not Calvert, that was treading close to violating the law and military policies. As First Liberty Institute stated in an appeal letter published in May: Read more

Chaplain Calvert Appeals Punishment for Transgender Comments

US Army Chaplain (Maj) Andrew Calvert made a Facebook comment in January that attracted the attention of critics – and eventually his chain of command. It has now been revealed that Chaplain Calvert received a “General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand” (also called a “GOMOR”) from III Corps commander LtGen Robert “Pat” White. This reprimand from a General Officer (rather than a lower level supervisor or commander) is a potentially career-ending punishment, and it accuses Calvert of “violating military equal opportunity policy and violating Department of Defense policy on political activities.”

With the help of First Liberty, Chaplain Calvert is appealing that punishment.

Chaplain Calvert was the subject of a 15-6 Investigation, so Read more

Reversed: US Navy Continues Catholic Chaplain Contracts

Various outlets have reported the US Navy reversed the “controversial” decision (highlighted here yesterday) to cancel contracts for civilian Catholic chaplains, which was reportedly done either as a cost-savings or because it didn’t serve the proper demographic, depending on who you asked.

The religious services will continue for at least the next year, Rear Adm. Bette Bolivar, commander Navy Region Southwest, said in a statement to Fox News on Tuesday.

“Contrary to previous discussions, this year we will continue contracted religious ministry programs and services similar to what we’ve had in place previously,” Bolivar said. “We will also continue to assess how best to meet the needs of our sailors and their families throughout the region.”

The decision to axe the civilian chaplain contracts was criticized by Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the Archdiocese that encompasses the military service.

The Navy’s actions had even caught the attention of their Commander-in-Chief, with President Trump tweeting about the reversal: Read more

Congressmen Call on SecDef Esper to Defend Military Religious Freedom

Congress accuses Mikey Weinstein of “preying” on military chaplains.

Today, US Rep Doug Collins (R-GA) and 19 House colleagues wrote a letter (PDF) to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper demanding that the US military

follow federal law in protecting [chaplains’] religious liberties and ensure that the ongoing pandemic is not exploited by nefarious organizations bent on removing faith from the U.S. military.

(Collins is also an Air Force Reserve Chaplain.)

The letter specifically calls out Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF and its recent attacks on Chaplain Kim in Korea, the removal of chaplain videos from Facebook, and the demand that LtCol David McGraw be punished for singing and preaching from his home’s balcony in Stuttgart, Germany: Read more

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