{"id":19525,"date":"2022-02-16T19:29:31","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T19:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/02\/16\/religious-exemptions-for-vaccines-given-to-marines-already-leaving-the-corps\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:16:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:16:58","slug":"religious-exemptions-for-vaccines-given-to-marines-already-leaving-the-corps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2022\/02\/16\/religious-exemptions-for-vaccines-given-to-marines-already-leaving-the-corps\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious exemptions for vaccines given to Marines already leaving the Corps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the first time in at least 10 years the Marine Corps accepted religious exemption requests to a vaccine when it<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2022\/01\/27\/another-marine-receives-a-religious-exemption-to-the-covid-19-vaccine\/\" target=\"_blank\"> approved three<\/a> such requests for the COVID-19 vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, inquiries from Congressman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, showed that those three exemptions were approved for Marines who effectively were no longer serving, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.military.com\/daily-news\/2022\/02\/02\/3-religious-exemptions-granted-military-went-marines-their-way-out.html\" target=\"_blank\">Military.com first reported.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn two cases, the Marines are on terminal leave and in the other the Marine has transitioned into &#8230; a 180-day training program in private industry,\u201d said a late January letter from J. J. Daly, the deputy legislative assistant in the Marine Corps\u2019 office of legislative affairs<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2021\/11\/07\/the-reason-some-troops-arent-getting-the-covid-19-vaccine-top-marine-blames-disinformation\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6465370.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The reason some troops aren\u2019t getting the vaccine? Top Marine blames disinformation<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Despite the looming deadline, the commandant does not believe the Corps will have to separate thousands of Marines for refusing the vaccine.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 97% of the active duty Marine Corps force was fully or partially vaccinated as of Feb. 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marines not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and who fail to receive an exemption will be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2021\/11\/01\/the-corps-covid-19-vaccination-deadline-is-soon-marines-who-refuse-will-be-booted\/\" target=\"_blank\">kicked out of the Corps,<\/a> according to Marine Corps policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Language in the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act limited the Corps to giving Marines either an honorable or general under honorable conditions discharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Marine Corps had received 3,538 religious exemption requests, as of Feb. 3. The Corps had already processed 3,414 requests, approving just three for an approval rate of just 0.088%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The large number of denials, mixed with complaints from service members that they received nearly identical denials letters, led Issa to question the Corps\u2019 religious exemption process, said spokesman Jonathan Wilcox. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fact that the Marines who actually received the exemption were effectively out of the Corps just added to the office\u2019s worries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFirst of all, don\u2019t tell us Marines got religious accommodations and then turn right around and say that they weren\u2019t authentic,\u201d Wilcox told Marine Corps Times in a phone call. \u201cIt\u2019s troubling because it seems to confirm what we\u2019ve been hearing from the hundreds of (service members) that are contacting us.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to the complaints by \u201chundreds\u201d of Marines, Issa\u2019s office sent a letter to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2021\/11\/07\/the-reason-some-troops-arent-getting-the-covid-19-vaccine-top-marine-blames-disinformation\/\" target=\"_blank\">Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger<\/a>, \u201cabout the scarce information and shortfall of direct confirmation from the USMC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs a matter of fundamental fairness, the Marines still seeking accommodation \u2013 and with a history and continued desire to serve honorably \u2013 deserve basic information on the reported approved cases,\u201d the letter read. \u201cThey deserve to know the critical circumstances that lead to the USMC\u2019s approval of these requests, so they too may fully consider how to include complete details involving their own unique cases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Corps denied sending form letters to Marines but acknowledged that the letters may be similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause the crux of the decision in the many denials has been the Marine Corps\u2019 compelling interest in readiness, and the health and safety of the total force the letters are very similar,\u201d Capt. Andrew Wood, a Marine Corps spokesman, told Marine Corps Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut each has been personally reviewed and hand signed by one of the two most senior individuals in Marine manpower: the deputy commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs or the assistant deputy commandant for M&amp;RA,\u201d Wood said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though Issa\u2019s office is aiming to ensure that religious exemption requests are properly reviewed by the Marine Corps, the lawmaker hopes to end the Department of Defense mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Issa is one of 14 House Republicans who sent a letter to Chairwomen of the House Appropriations Committee Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, urging Congress to block funding for the DoD vaccine mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Issa said his office was working to end the mandate as a means of protecting the force from what he describes as presidential overreach, an emailed statement to Marine Corps Times said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur work to stop the military vaccine mandate isn\u2019t about contradicting command,\u201d Issa said. \u201cIt\u2019s about preventing untold damage to the greatest fighting force the world has ever known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis isn\u2019t how the military wants to treat its own \u2013 it\u2019s how the President and his team show their unprecedented hostility to our men and women in uniform. I won\u2019t stand for this betrayal.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Berger, defending the mandate in 2021, said it was critical for the Marine Corps to be fully vaccinated in order to complete its mission as the U.S.\u2019s force in readiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u201dWe have to be ready to go, everyday all the time,\u201d Berger said in November 2021 at the Aspen Security Forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are the ready force we have to be ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Corps denied sending form letters to Marines whose religious exemptions weren&#8217;t approved, but acknowledged the letters may have been similar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":33999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,88,12,26,8311],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3099],"class_list":["post-19525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SBR62NLJFJBA7B2XRPHWK3L7KU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2022\/02\/16\/religious-exemptions-for-vaccines-given-to-marines-already-leaving-the-corps\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Religious exemptions for vaccines given to Marines already leaving the Corps - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Corps denied sending form letters to Marines whose religious exemptions weren&#039;t approved, but acknowledged the letters may have been similar.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Religious exemptions for vaccines given to Marines already leaving the Corps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Corps denied sending form letters to Marines whose religious exemptions weren&#039;t approved, but acknowledged the letters may have 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