A former Coast Guard service member who was last year discharged for objecting to the Pentagon’s vaccine mandate said he was forced to pay back a reenlistment bonus, which another former officer described as “an attempt to humiliate” members who opposed the vaccine mandate.
But that measure was “too little, too late” for Southwell, he said, because he was separated on Aug. 12. Within days of losing his job as an operations specialist, Southwell received a memo, stating that he had to pay back an $18,000 reenlistment bonus from 2019. At the time, he had signed up for an additional four-year reenlistment, but due to the military’s actions against those who refused to take the vaccine, he was unable to finish a term of service that would have ended in 2023.
“Since I couldn’t fulfill the final years of my last reenlistment after getting booted from the Coast Guard, I was immediately required to pay $18,000 back to Coast Guard with only a month’s notice,” he told The Epoch Times.
For Southwell, the experience was “not good,” he said, adding he was “rather disgruntled about it.” Yet, he considered himself lucky because he had always placed his reenlistment bonuses into a retirement savings and investment plan. “But I’m sure there are people out there who didn’t do this and had to spend the money right away, and that sickens me,” he added.
Rocky Rogers, a retired Coast Guard IT chief with more than 20 years of service, expressed alarm at the reports. “[It] blows my mind,” he said. “The growing number of members who have had to pay back an enlistment/reenlistment bonus is very concerning.”
‘Leaders Are No Longer Leading’
Southwell once considered a career obligation to the Coast Guard. He joined the military because he “wanted to make a positive impact on our world and our country.” But he believed that the Coast Guard was changing in recent years, which was disheartening.“When the COVID vaccines came around, it really changed things,” he said. For those that stood their ground against the vaccine, he said, “military leadership began treating us differently.” For example, on some two-month deployments, unvaccinated service members were not able to leave the pier once their ship was docked at port. “We had to send people out to get us the basic necessities that were needed during the long deployments,” he said. “We basically felt like we were in prison for two months.”
In addition, he said, “we were segregated into wearing N-95 masks when other vaccinated members were allowed privileges, such as wearing no masks at all, or regular cloth masks.”
Southwell also recalled seeing “everybody’s name that was unvaccinated posted on the main passageway of the Cutter [a commissioned vessel] for all to see. Threatened that this may be a HIPPA violation, the list of unvaccinated service members was removed. “But the damage was already done,” he said. It was embarrassing and coercive, he added.
Southwell believes that the military “leaders are no longer leading.” “Leadership is too bureaucratic and political, today,” he said.
And as a result, he said, “Getting discharged for refusing to get the jab was 100 percent the right decision, [as] I wouldn’t be able to serve in today’s Coast Guard which has turned its back on some of its most critical members.”
The Pentagon and Coast Guard did not return inquiries from The Epoch Times.
