Original Title:

Marine Corps compliance with vaccine mandate on course to be military's worst

https://archive.md/vxA4X

Up to 10,000 active-duty Marines will not be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus when their deadline arrives in coming days, a trajectory expected to yield the U.S. military's worst immunization rate.

While 94 percent of Marine Corps personnel have met the vaccination requirement or are on a path to do so, according to the latest official data, for the remainder it is too late to begin a regimen and complete it by the service's Nov. 28 deadline. Within an institution built upon the belief that orders are to be obeyed, and one that brands itself the nation's premier crisis-response force, it is a vexing outcome.

The holdouts will join approximately 9,600 Air Force personnel who have outright refused the vaccine, did not report their status, or sought an exemption on medical or religious grounds, causing a dilemma for commanders tasked with maintaining combat-ready forces - and marking the latest showdown over President Joe Biden's authority to impose vaccination as a condition of continued government service.

"Marines know they're an expeditionary force, and pride themselves on discipline and being first to fight," said David Lapan, a retired Marine Corps officer and former communications chief for the service. Leadership, he said, should be alarmed that the Marine Corps ethos of always being ready for the next mission appears to be tarnished in this case. "Why," Lapan asked, "did they decide not to follow a direct order?"

Answering that question will be essential, he added, "if this is somehow indicative of a problem" that could arise again in the future.