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Chase Spears<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s not about revenge\u2014it\u2019s about a proper response to an irresponsible leadership class.<\/p>\n 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\u2019 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.<\/p>\n There are three basic camps among top military management that enforced the Pentagon\u2019s illegal shot mandate.<\/p>\n The Concerned Institutionalists had reservations about the legality and ethics of the Department of War\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n The Deceived Followers believed Lloyd Austin\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019 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.<\/p>\n 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: \u201cThere would be accountability, that\u2019s right. We\u2019ll fire their asses.\u201d Yet we are now months into the second Trump Administration, and many veterans who enthusiastically supported both Trump\u2019s candidacy and Pete Hegseth\u2019s nomination to lead the Pentagon are still wondering if senior leaders will be held to account.<\/p>\n However, there are limited, but encouraging, signs on that front. American Mind<\/a><\/p>\n Military Accountability<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\nThe 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 na\u00efve 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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n