Despite having an approved retirement, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard was recently separated at 19 years because of his religious objection to the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The termination occurred months before the Guardsman was to hit 20 years of service, when he would have been entitled to a lifelong pension.
Former Petty Officer 1st Class Chris Harkins considers his family “patriotic,” as his grandfather served in World War II, an uncle in the Vietnam War, and another uncle participated in Operation Desert Storm. Respect and honor for God and country were “ingrained” in him as early as he can remember. Based on personal convictions grounded in his Christian faith, he chose the Coast Guard in 2003.
“The idea that the Coast Guard was a life-saving service versus a life-taking one was something that definitely spoke to me,” he told The Epoch Times.
For most of his career, he chose to serve in places that were “stereotypically unpopular,” he said. And as a result, he thanks his family for their sacrifice.
“By requesting multiple Alaska billets or Coast Guard cutters, which would both put members typically far away from their support systems and family, and are notoriously hard for detailers to fill without complaint,” he said, “my entire family showcased our ability to be flexible, helping me fill those roles with excellence and with a good attitude.”
His family and friends told The Epoch Times that Harkins isn’t the kind of person the Coast Guard should have separated from honorable service to the country.
In 2020, Harkins contracted COVID-19 twice. He never stopped working despite feeling “very sick,” he said.
Following the August 2021 vaccine mandate and leading to December that year, he said, “I encountered multiple acts of discrimination because I was unvaccinated.”
A Career Nullified
In 2021, Harkins’s unit was visited by the master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard—the highest enlisted service member of the branch.“Due to my nomination and awarding of Sailor of the Quarter, I had a chance to eat lunch with him,” Harkins said. “During our conversation, he indicated that if I chose to continue down the path of not vaccinating, I would probably be discharged from the Coast Guard no later than January 2022.”
Adding to his already heightened stress levels, Harkins was asked on a weekly basis if he would be willing to change his mind and get vaccinated. This occurred even though his command was aware of his plans to seek religious accommodation. In February, his request for religious accommodation was denied, a decision which he immediately appealed.
By August, Harkins said, he was “clearly being targeted passive-aggressively.” He filed multiple Equal Employment Opportunity complaints due to alleged discrimination and reprisals, he said.
To a new supervisor, he also began asking about the status of his religious accommodation appeal. The supervisor was “flustered,” but said he “discovered the issue.” A typo in an email sent in February left Harkins’s original request undelivered. As a result, he was out of his 10-day appeal window, he said.
Although his appeal was sent again, it was subsequently denied. And in the weeks that followed, he signed “negative paperwork“ that stated if he didn’t get vaccinated by Sept. 5, he would be ”processed for discharge.”
“[On Sept. 15], I was counseled by a different supervisor, who stated: ‘This is the most [expletive] up counseling session I’ve ever had to do.’”
The supervisor then gave Harkins “intent to discharge paperwork.” Unexpectedly, he also accused him of lying about submitting his religious accommodation appeal, “implying that the typo was intentional in an effort to gain additional days in the Coast Guard,” Harkins said.
“At that point, they were not only attacking my religious beliefs, but slandering my character as well,” he said.
He then requested an official investigation into the matter. The investigation determined that “the matter is closed and not a single word was spoken about it,” he said.
“During this time, my access to the classified spaces that I once managed was suspended,” he said, noting that his career was essentially nullified. “I had a target on my back.”
His ability to work from September to his last day in the service in November was severely affected.
“I sat in a cubicle with zero responsibility, nor even the ability to do my job,” he said. A harassment complaint against his supervisor amounted to nothing, he said.
He was now engulfed by “a hostile work environment,” contrary to how he had hoped his career would have ended.
Retirement Was Only the Beginning
Rather than being afforded the opportunity to retire, Harkins was placed on administrative leave on Nov. 1. On Nov. 14, he received official orders to be separated from the service branch.“With no time to plan, I had 16 days to prepare for a relocation across the country,” he said. “I was separated exactly 19 years in service on Dec. 2, 2022.”
“Non-Availability for Worldwide Deployment” was the reason for his separation.
“Based on your decision to not receive the mandatory covid vaccine as ordered, you have been processed for separation (discharge)," Coast Guard command said in an Oct. 20 email to Harkins that was seen by The Epoch Times.
“Your retirement orders are being cancelled as 10 US code 1176 (a does not apply to members of the CG. There is no safe harbor for a CG member with 18 or more years TIS [time in service].”
That provision states that for an enlisted member who’s “selected to be involuntarily separated, or whose term of enlistment expires and who on the date on which the member is to be discharged is within two years of qualifying for retirement,” the member “shall be retained on active duty until the member is qualified for retirement.”
“Clearly, this not only affected my career, but my mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health and that of my family,” he said. “It is by the grace of God and good counseling and communication that we have all made it through this with our relationships intact.
“For a service that prides itself on believing that its people are its biggest asset, that has prioritized training for the past 10 years in diversity, equity and inclusion, and all that’s included in what would be considered a very progressive stance, the Coast Guard has done a disservice to its decidedly Christian members.”
Christians, he said, should have been given the same deference as any other member.
For Harkins, “It feels like Christians are being thoroughly and intentionally purged from the USCG if they have sincerely held religious beliefs that are in opposition to receiving any vaccine that violates those said beliefs.
“Since when did we no longer live in a country that [has] religious freedom?” he asked. “The manner in which the Coast Guard processed the religious accommodations requests of its members was a clear violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.”
Early on, he knew his opposition to the vaccine could end his career.
“But if we do not fight for the next generation, then who will?” he asked. “I refuse to stand by and do nothing and say nothing when it’s clearly wrong on all fronts.”
In response to an inquiry from The Epoch Times, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard said in an email, “As of December 13, 2022, 273 members have been separated due to their failure to comply with the lawful general order to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.”
The Coast Guard didn’t return further inquiries from The Epoch Times regarding Harkins’s case.
