Navy Refuses to Deploy Warship While Commander Remains Unvaccinated

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U.S. Navy officials have said a warship canโ€™t be deployed because its commander has refused the COVID-19 vaccine.

The service said an East Coast guided-missile destroyer is โ€œout of commissionโ€ after a Florida federal judge ruled that the Navy and Marine Corps cannot remove its officer for being unvaccinated against COVID-19.

The warship now remains docked in Norfolk, Virginia.

It comes after U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday, a George H. W. Bush nominee, ruled on Feb. 2 to bar Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and all other military officials from taking punitive action against the unnamed Navy officer, who sought religious exemptions to the militaryโ€™s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Merryday wrote that the Navyโ€™s rejection failed to note that the branch has separately granted hundreds of medical exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate

The Navy officer was told he would be removed from command of his ship on Feb. 3 if he didnโ€™t start a COVID-19 vaccination series.

Top military officials determined that the commanderโ€™s religious beliefs were sincere and that they would be โ€œsubstantially burdenedโ€ by being forced to get vaccinated, but also claimed that granting the exemption request โ€œwould have a predictable and detrimental effect on the readiness of you and the Sailors who serve alongside you.โ€

On Feb. 28, the Navy asked Merryday for an emergency stay on the preliminary injunction, arguing that the judgeโ€™s ruling prevents it โ€œfrom removing an officer from โ€ฆ commanding officer billets who the military has deemed unfit for command.โ€

โ€œThe order is an extraordinary intrusion upon the inner workings of the military that presents a direct and imminent threat to national security during a global military crisis, and it indefinitely sidelines a Navy warship,โ€ the Navy said, according to court papers, Stripes and Stars reported.

โ€œWith respect to Navy Commander, the Navy has lost confidence in his ability to lead and will not deploy the warship with him in command,โ€ the filing states.

Byย Isabel van Brugen

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