I’m a veteran who served long before COVID. I got lots of vaccines during my time and didn’t give them much of a thought. That said, there’s a lot of ignorant pontificating about readiness, military culture, and following orders going on here.
1. For every lawful order, there are tons of exceptions in practice. It’s just the reality of an organization so massive. These exceptions are formalized to varying degrees.
2. For every lawful order, big or small, there’s a huddle of junior enlisted complaining about it and scheming to get out of it.
3. If you find yourself arguing that those in the military “signed up to follow orders” or some variation, you aren’t operating in reality.
4. I don’t care if people were forced out or not; having served during the peak of an unpopular war, I saw how the military makes business decisions based on retention, etc. As long as they make and keep their numbers, they’ll get along just fine. Pushing people out or bringing them back is just a business decision.
5. Get your shots, but maybe put a check on your GI Joe fantasies.