Through part of an anonymous questionnaire distributed by the author, over 200 men and women currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces shared their experiences concerning the now-rescinded COVID-19 military vaccine mandate.
Major Trey Dawson (a pseudonym), who has served in the U.S. military for over 15 years and is currently assigned to an Army aviation brigade, was one of the survey’s 229 participants. When the COVID-19 shot rolled out, he was pressured to take the jab. According to the survey, almost 73 percent of the participants said they were also coerced into receiving the shot.
“You need to get vaccinated. This is non-negotiable for leaders because we set the example, and you’re a bad leader if you don’t get vaccinated.” These statements embodied the sentiment of Maj. Dawson’s brigade commander and brigade sergeant major.
According to the survey, only two of the 30 individuals who admitted taking the shot wanted to be vaccinated. Maj. Dawson was one of the 30 who felt obligated to get the injection even though he has been opposed to vaccines for years. “Even my kids are not vaccinated,” he shared.
“I expected the anti-vax movement to get crushed, and I felt like my livelihood was at stake, so that led me to get the vaccine,” Maj. Dawson explained. “And while I thought that would be the end of my troubles over the shot, as an executive officer, it becomes my job to hunt people down to tell them to get vaccinated,” he said. “I had to find opportunities to voice my concern to them privately.”
Approximately 95 percent of the survey’s participants faced reprisal for not receiving the COVID-19 injection, including verbal threats of punitive legal action, loss of promotion, and exclusion from career-enhancing schools.
Unwanted Injury
Maj. Dawson received the COVID-19 injection at an off-post pharmacy in May 2021. There was “absolutely no discussion” about the risks associated with the vaccine, and the package insert accompanying the shot was blank, he said. Only seven of the survey’s 229 participants were informed by qualified medical personnel of known risks, like myocarditis and more, associated with the injection.
Maj. Dawson was told “all the usual lies like it’s safe and effective,” and that by taking the jab, he could stop the spread of the virus and protect “vulnerable family members.”
After the injection, “I’ve had unexplained chest pain and other issues,” he said. “I’m still waiting to be officially diagnosed with something, as I’ve been bounced around hematology [for clotting], rheumatology, cardiology, and pulmonology,” without a single mention that the COVID-19 injection could be causing my problems.
Ninety-three percent of the survey’s 229 participants said they know service members who were injured by the COVID-19 injection. Twenty of the 30 participants who admitted being “vaccinated” also revealed they were injured by the shot.
Oath and Law Abandoned
The mandate to get the injection was unlawful because the military failed to provide FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines, as listed in the Pentagon’s 2021 vaccine mandate. Rather, only shots issued under emergency use authorization (EUA) were offered to service members. And for this reason, thousands objected.
“While I’m able to stay in [the military], there are others who were separated or forced to leave for not taking the vaccine,” Maj. Dawson said. By 2023, while thousands were separated from the military, others choose to resign or retire on their own. Almost 90 percent of the survey’s participants said they know someone who was separated or forced to leave military service because of the COVID-19 military vaccine mandate.
“Imagine the amount of money lost when someone like an Apache pilot resigned or got forced out over the vaccine—and then, in the end, the mandate gets lifted,” Maj. Dawson noted. Millions of dollars have been “wasted” on training pilots, he said.
The entire experience to follow the military’s vaccine mandate has left him feeling “outraged and disgusted,” Maj. Dawson said. “I don’t want to serve. I don’t want to come to work. I don’t want to support an organization that is so morally bankrupt. I look at my chain of command with disgust.”
“When you look at how we withdrew from Afghanistan, how we’re draining our resources in Ukraine, and we treated the people who were vaccine-hesitant, I’m to the point where I don’t even want to be promoted,” he said. “I literally don’t want to join the ranks of those who selfishly serve this country at the expense of the American people.”
According to Maj. Dawson, “They have put their own selfish objectives ahead of the health of their soldiers and the security of the country.” More importantly, he said, “They have failed to abide by their oaths and should not be allowed to continue to perform their jobs.” Like Maj. Dawson, nearly 99 percent of the survey’s 229 participants said they do not trust senior leaders of the Department of Defense to follow their oaths to the Constitution and obey all laws. Over 85 percent expressed the same about their immediate supervisors.
Maj. Dawson emphasized that his views do not reflect those of the Department of Defense or the Department of the Army.
