{"id":47087,"date":"2021-11-30T20:50:30","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T20:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/11\/30\/unvaccinated-guardsmen-wont-be-able-to-drill-or-draw-federal-pay-secdef-memo\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:20:19","slug":"unvaccinated-guardsmen-wont-be-able-to-drill-or-draw-federal-pay-secdef-memo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/itsec\/2021\/11\/30\/unvaccinated-guardsmen-wont-be-able-to-drill-or-draw-federal-pay-secdef-memo\/","title":{"rendered":"Unvaccinated Guardsmen won\u2019t be able to drill or draw federal pay: SECDEF memo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

National Guardsmen who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19<\/a> won\u2019t be eligible for any federal training or pay<\/a>, which includes monthly drill weekends, per a memo signed Tuesday by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin calls on the Army and Air Force secretaries to enforce his mandate by barring unvaccinated Guardsmen from attending any drill or training events, and withholding any federal funding that would pay Guardsmen for their participation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo credit or excused absence shall be afforded to members who do not participate in drills, training, or other duty due to failure to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19,\u201d Austin wrote, which would render any unvaccinated Guardsmen in breach of their contracts and make them eligible for dismissal from the National Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s Nov. 30, 2021, memo requires the service secretaries to enforce the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for reservists.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Austin put out the memo after formally denying the Oklahoma governor\u2019s request<\/a> to exempt that state\u2019s National Guard soldiers and airmen from the Defense Department\u2019s service member vaccination mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governor has also directed his adjutant general not to enforce any federal vaccine mandates when troops are in a state-controlled status, stoking worries that other states might try a similar effort in what has become a fierce political battle over mandatory vaccinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the weeks since, Oklahoma\u2019s government and DoD have gone back and forth over whether DoD has the authority to enforce its mandate when troops are not federally mobilized, in a Title 10 status.<\/p>\n\n\n\t