After Deadline, VA and DoD Middle of the Pack for COVID-19 Vaccinations, White House Says

Dont they know the WH always lies

24 Nov 2021

Military.com | By Patricia Kime

As the deadline passed this week for federal employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, nearly 88% of Veterans Affairs employees and 93% of Defense Department employees had received at least one shot, while an additional 10% of VA and 3% of DoD workers have requested or received medical or religious exemptions, the White House said.

Data released Wednesday by the Biden administration showed that, of 24 federal departments or agencies, the VA ranked 10th and the DoD 13th in compliance for meeting the Nov. 22 deadline set by President Joe Biden in September.

According to the White House, nearly 97% of all federal employees have received at least one dose of the vaccine or asked for an exemption – a data point the administration referred to as "compliance" with the requirement, even though patients are not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after they receive their final shot.

White House officials said the federal government, which employs 3.5 million people, achieved high vaccination rates "without disruptions to critical services people depend on."

"As the successful implementation of this requirement across the Federal Government has shown, these requirements work: they increase vaccination rates – leading to a safer, more productive, and efficient workforce," officials wrote in a release.

The figures released by the White House on Wednesday include active-duty military personnel, who have faced varying deadlines depending on their service branch. The vaccination deadline for the Air Force was Nov. 2, while the Marine Corps and Navy must be vaccinated by Nov. 28.

DoD officials on Wednesday declined to parse out the percentage of civilian employees known to have complied with the mandate, but did say that 392,546 workers have reported they have received at least one dose, including 341,836 who are fully vaccinated.

While those figures seem significant, they translate into a paltry 51% vaccination rate, given that the department is the largest federal employer, with 762,398 employees in the U.S. and overseas as of Sept. 30.

Seventy percent of all eligible Americans have been vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

DoD spokesman Army Maj. Charlie Dietz warned against drawing conclusions that the DoD compliance rates are actually that low.

"The DoD federal employee compliance and vaccination data includes all civilian and active-duty employees who have received vaccinations through DoD providers or self-reported that they had been vaccinated," Dietz said. "As we continue to process the incoming data, DoD will provide further updates on DoD civilian vaccination rates."

According to a memo issued Oct. 29 by Undersecretary of Defense Gilbert Cisneros, DoD civilian employees who are not fully vaccinated, including those with medical or religious exemptions, must begin weekly testing for COVID-19, and those who work remotely must be tested within 72 hours of entering any DoD facility.

Those who refuse to be vaccinated or provide proof can lose their jobs: They first will be counseled, then suspended without pay and eventually removed from federal service if they haven't complied or gotten an exemption, according to Cisneros.

The VA, which required the majority of its employees to be vaccinated by Oct. 8, has started the disciplinary process for some employees, which could take up to three months to complete.

No one has been fired, and the department also is processing medical waivers and religious exemptions, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said Nov. 18.

McDonough added that he anticipates 5.6% of Veterans Health Administration employees to request religious waivers, based on the number who sought an exemption for the flu vaccine in late 2020; he said the department will not question them.

He noted, however, that employees who work in high-risk environments intensive-care units, spinal cord injury centers and nursing homes will undergo stricter requirements for being vaccinated and face disciplinary action if they don't comply….

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/11/24/after-deadline-va-and-dod-middle-of-pack-covid-19-vaccinations-white-house-says.html

Biden's Big Plans to Take on China Are Running into 'Angst' at Home and Abroad

24 Nov 2021 Business Insider By Christopher Woody

The Biden administration has made clear that it wants to focus on competition with China and reduce the US footprint in theaters seen as less vital to US interests.

Allies and partners are already seeking reassurances about the US support for their security, even as US officials are still figuring out their approach to that competition.

The biggest moves have been in the Middle East, where the US has withdrawn from Afghanistan, announced plans to remove combat troops from Iraq, and scaled back elsewhere.

Those moves are part of a broader effort to ensure the US military's global presence "is correctly sized and supports strategy," informed by the Pentagon's global force posture review.

That review is not complete the Pentagon told Insider on Friday that it would be released "in the near future" but it's already caused concern overseas.

At a conference in Bahrain this weekend, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was pressed about the US's plans for the region.

"There is some level of angst, as I just heard, that the United States is not really committed to this region," Austin said. "There's an anticipation that we're going to turn and focus everything that we have on China."

"I not only have heard that in this region," Austin added. "I've also heard that in Europe and some other places."

Proponents of less military involvement in the Middle East argue the US's presence there is disproportionate to its interests. Current and former US officials, among others, have argued drawing down will allow bad actors to gain strength and rivals to expand.

In Bahrain, US officials promised continued work with "partners and allies" in the region.

"We still have tens of thousands of troops in this region. We have significant capability here," Austin said. "Let me assure you that we're not we're not going to abandon those interests going forward."

Brett McGurk, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East, promised "humility" and "introspection" from the US based on "hard lessons learned" in the region, but McGurk also emphasized ongoing commitment.

"The US is not going anywhere. This region is too important, too volatile, too interwoven with American interests to contemplate otherwise," he said.

Strategic discipline

Comments this month from other Biden officials show that the US experience in the Middle East is influencing not only their approach to that region but also how they approach competition with China.

Derek Chollet, counselor at the State Department, said this month that the US will remain "deeply engaged" in the Middle East but that it also has "core national-security interests" in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

"In all of those regions and I experience this every day here; in many ways, this has not changed over the last 10 years there's a desire for more of the United States, more of our time, more of our energy, more of our attention, more of our force posture," Chollet said. "As we all know, more of everything is not a strategy."

Kurt Campbell, National Security Council coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, said last week that the past two decades in the Middle East makes him "deeply aware of the potential downsides" of focusing on one region "to the exclusion of others."

"We did a little bit of that in the Middle East and South Asia," Campbell said Friday. "I agree fully that we have to be careful about not repeating that in the Pacific."

The "China challenge" is increasingly global, Campbell added. "We see it in Latin America, in Africa, [and] on technology," which are "profound challenges" the US has to meet, but "keeping our global balance is going to be essential."…

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/11/24/bidens-big-plans-take-china-are-running-angst-home-and-abroad.html

>>15075583

Well God bless and stay alive

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1463597823291797513?s=20

Jack Posobiec Latin cross@JackPosobiec·11h

A psychopath with years of Black Hebrew Israelite and anti-white social media postswas just arrested for plowing through a Christmas parade hitting over 60 people but the media wants to talk about Kyle Rittenhouse making a hand gesture one time

Dani the Girl@NewYearsDani

Replying to @JackPosobiec

In his rap songs, Brooks bragged that he was a “terrorist” and a “killer in the city”

11:27 AM · Nov 24, 2021

https://twitter.com/NewYearsDani/status/1463544836930347015?s=20

__Soldiers Who Refuse Vaccination Can Still Serve, But Their Careers Are Over__Steve Beynon

This is backpeddling reminds me of the movie “The Jerk” when Steve Martin leaves his girlfriend but comes back for the lamp the chair, etc

Army officials are telling soldiers who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 that they aren't getting booted immediately, but they can't stay in the service for a career.

In a memo to the force last week, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said active-duty soldiers, reservists and Guardsmen who refuse the vaccine will be "flagged," meaning they will be barred from reenlistment, promotions and potentially most schools.

But soldiers won't be outright removed automatically. Hypothetically, a soldier with years left on their contract can still serve, but will see no progress in their career and will not be allowed to serve beyond that contract. They could leave with an honorable discharge.

The deadline to be vaccinated is Dec. 15 for active-duty soldiers and June 30 for Reserve and Army National Guard troops.

"At this time, the secretary has not authorized any separations with the sole basis being refusal to follow the COVID-19 vaccination order," Lt. Col. Gabriel Ramirez, an Army spokesman, said in a statement Monday.

The consequences vary for more senior ranks. Sergeants major, first sergeants and officers who refuse inoculation face possible relief of duty.

The Army's decision not to discharge unvaccinated soldiers is a departure from most of the Defense Department. All other service branches have issued guidance to start removing troops who refuse inoculation. Last month, the Air Force booted 40 new recruits for refusing COVID-19 vaccinations.

Wormuth's new guidance comes amid a standoff between the Oklahoma National Guard and the Pentagon after the state's adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, made a move to overrule the Defense Department's vaccine rules, issuing a memo notifying troops they won't be required to take the COVID vaccine.

The Guard is mostly under control of the state's governor unless federally activated, making the Pentagon's authority on the matter murky. Multiple governors are considering following Oklahoma's lead, including Texas, as Republican officials are increasingly resistant to vaccines and COVID-19-related mandates.

There is little evidence of widespread anti-vaccine sentiment in the military. As of last week, 92% of active-duty soldiers are fully vaccinated, far outpacing the general U.S. population, which is at 59%, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At the annual Association of the United States Army conference last month, Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, the force's top enlisted leader, urged soldiers to get vaccinated, likening shots to body armor.

"Imagine I had really good body armor and you said, 'I don't want it,'" Grinston said. "Would you be able to call the family member and tell them you had that kit and didn't make them wear it? That's how I feel about it."

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/11/22/soldiers-who-refuse-vaccination-can-still-serve-their-careers-are-over.html

>>15075452

How do yiu if hecwasnt baiting them to cancel Kerick?

>>15075452

He do you know he wasnt baiting them to cancel Kerick? Always a twist with our guy

>>15075458

Yep a new strategy of some sort

>>15075514

He said “we” didnt believe in. Hes being fed bullshit from Hancock

>>15075550

Give the kud a break, he just got off of a life sentence and its been 15 mintgs or worry. He’s been manipulated by Hancock and Pierce and they’ve taken control if the funds Wendy was owner of.

Say prayers for the family they are being held hostage! I’m serious, they just dont know it yet!

Hope the visit with Trump revealed some things

>>15075593

Thank Gid she looks lije a praying mantis

>>15075838

Until the goal Post is moved again and vaxxed soldiers and officers get sick

>>15075853

Or you end up with alive soldiers that need to take officers place

>>15076000

Hate to say it, but true

The Marines Are Promising Better Jobs and Fewer Moves Using Big Data.

Great, thats just Great!

Konstantin Toropin

Marines, like service members in every branch, typically face moves to new duty stations every few years. But the service now wants to offer more opportunities to homestead – a chance to change assignments but skip the move.

The Marine Corps said Monday it plans to offer homesteading more often as part of its new talent management system. As the service revamps the way it recruits and retains personnel, leaders are hoping to better match Marines to specialties. Part of that is allowing them to stay put in one area of the country.

"Now we don't move Marines just because you've been in one location," Brig. Gen. Michael Borgschulte told reporters at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.

"We have tried to do that but … with talent management that has made a much more forceful exclamation point on that," he noted.

Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Jordan Cochran added that homesteading, available to both officers and enlisted, is no longer "a negative practice to avoid."

Part of what enables the shift in policy, say officers at Quantico, is the Marine Corps' ever-growing efforts to harness data on every service member.

Lt. Gen. David Ottignon, the deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs, said the service ultimately hopes to use its data systems to allow officers better insight and control over their careers and give the Corps a way to predict career success and manage promotions.

"If I give you options to look at, you have a choice," Ottignon said. "I think that's what I would have liked to have had as a young officer."

Amid the changes that regular Marines can expect, Ottignon said that his team is considering a "cultural shift" that would give officers the ability to opt for a command track or staff track.

"That is completely different from what we have done for decades in the Marine Corps, which said, in order for you to be a successful staff officer, you needed to be a commander," he explained.

Ottignon described a system that would show officers a career path complete with "what you can expect and where you can expect it" that is "based on your performance, and your propensity for future service."

On the boot camp side of things, the service plans to roll out a new job matching system Marine Corps Occupational Specialty Matching, or MCOSM that it hopes will not only better match Marines to jobs but also help retain more troops past their first tour.

"If you're happier in your assignment … something you're actually best suited for and would be happier doing, that's going to help our retention efforts," Maj. Gen. Jason Bohm told reporters at Quantico.

All of these changes come as part of the Corps' new Talent Management Plan – a radical effort to reshape the Marines into a more mature and experienced force that is less focused on an "industrial age manpower model," according to the service.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger unveiled the plan in early November, but leaders say some changes unveiled now pre-date the document's release and have been in the works for several years.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/11/22/marines-are-promising-better-jobs-and-fewer-moves-using-big-data.html