{"id":31359,"date":"2021-12-30T22:00:42","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T22:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/12\/30\/oklahoma-guard-bars-unvaccinated-airmen-from-drilling-after-jan-1\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:49:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:49:57","slug":"oklahoma-guard-bars-unvaccinated-airmen-from-drilling-after-jan-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2021\/12\/30\/oklahoma-guard-bars-unvaccinated-airmen-from-drilling-after-jan-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma Guard bars unvaccinated airmen from drilling after Jan. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Though the head of the Oklahoma National Guard has said he won\u2019t enforce the Defense Department\u2019s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, he announced Thursday that any airmen who continue to refuse vaccination after the Dec. 31 Air Force deadline will no longer be allowed to drill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anticipating that DoD will suspend pay for unvaccinated Oklahoma Guardsmen, Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino<\/a> warned troops that they will not be allowed to participate in their monthly drill weekends unless they have requested an exemption for the vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll you can do as a leader is make the right decisions, for the right reasons, then own them all,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI own this one: With no possibility of injunctive relief before January 1st, 2022, I have decided to not allow unvaccinated Oklahoma Air National Guard Drill Status Guardsmen (DSGs), without a medical exemption or religious accommodation request, to participate in any future drill period, except for any Airmen wishing to be vaccinated. The Governor concurs with this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement comes two days after a federal judge rejected Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt\u2019s lawsuit<\/a> against DoD, arguing that the department can\u2019t enforce its mandate while troops are in a state-controlled, though federally-funded, drill status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe vaccine mandate to which the governor objects is the one \u2014 in addition to the nine that already apply to all service members \u2014 intended to protect service members from the virus which has, in less than two years, killed more Americans than have been killed in action in all of the wars the United States has ever fought,\u201d U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot wrote in his decision Tuesday. \u201cThe court is required to decide the case on the basis of federal law, not common sense. But, either way, the result would be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t