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n the day before Veterans Day, West Point Military Academy cadets were given less than 12 hours to respond to denials of their appeals of their rejected requests for medical exemption from the military’s legally tottering COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
In August, West Point cadets were similarly given 24 hours to decide whether or not to take the COVID vaccine. In that case, the ultimatum followed denials of their appeals of their rejected religious accommodation requests (RAR) for exemption from the vaccine mandate.
The academy’s latest short-notice ultimatum to cadet vaccine objectors “is a continuation of what we’ve seen at West Point,” military attorney R. Davis Younts told Just the News on Thursday, noting that there now remain “only a few” of these cadets who haven’t resigned and still want to push through the process. These cadets have a “strong desire to continue to serve” while also remaining “consistent in their faith,” he added.
Younts explained that while many of the cadets are part of one of the lawsuits seeking an injunction against the Army vaccine mandate, they aren’t protected yet.
“West Point continues to do this on a Friday afternoon or before a three-day weekend, which feels intentional,” Younts said, as it makes it difficult for the cadets to consult with legal counsel or seek relief in federal court.
Denying the cadets’ appeals right before Veterans Day is not only “a huge blow,” he said, but given that it’s following Election Day, “congressional involvement is not really possible.”
