Nearly 12 years ago, when Democrats repealed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, more than a few Republicans insisted the change would undermine military readiness. We now know, of course, that those arguments were wrong.
But as it turns out, there are some folks undermining military readiness; they’re just not LGBTQ+ servicemembers. Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern explained late last week:
U.S. District Judge Steven Douglas Merryday has effectively stopped the federal government from deploying a $1.8 billion warship and its 300-person crew, the Justice Department confirmed in a hearing at a federal courthouse in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday. The Navy will not deploy the ship, a guided-missile destroyer, until it can reassign the commanding officer, who refuses to get the COVID-19 vaccine. But Merryday, a George H.W. Bush nominee, is blocking the officer’s reassignment, claiming the move would violate his religious freedom.
Let’s acknowledge at the outset that this is a story missing some proper nouns. As The Virginian-Pilot’s report noted, the court filings did not name the ship’s commander or the name of the specific Navy destroyer. That said, the article added that the ship in question is in Destroyer Squadron 26, which is part of the USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group. What’s more, “The strike group has just started a critical training phase to prepare for deployment.”
But, at least for now, one ship can’t deploy.
Let’s back up to review how we arrived at this point. The commanding officer in question, like all active-duty troops, was told to comply with the military’s Covid-19 vaccine policies. He refused and requested a religious exemption. The Navy declined the request and told him to get vaccinated, not only for his benefit, but for that of his sizable crew.
The commanding officer refused again.
Slate’s Stern added in an earlier report that Vice Admiral D.W. Dwyer and Captain Frank Brandon have said this commander’s anti-vaccine posture is part of a broader pattern of “insubordination” and “deceptive behavior.” Making matters worse, the Virginian-Pilot’s report added:
Brandon said when the commander embarked on the destroyer in November, he “could barely speak,” and admitted he had a sore throat. Brandon ordered a COVID-19 test, which came back positive. He said the commander had been in contact with members of the destroyer’s crew over two days while infected with the contagious virus, including at one point 50 or 60 people packed shoulder to shoulder in a confined space.
At this point, the next move seems obvious: The Navy wants to simply replace the ship’s commanding officer.
But Judge Merryday, a George H.W. Bush appointee best known for throwing out the CDC’s cruise safety regulations last year, won’t let the Navy do that, saying a reassignment would punish the commander for his religious beliefs. And so, the $1.8 billion warship is stuck during a time of crisis. Its commanding officer could get the safe, free, and effective vaccine, but he doesn’t want to. The Navy could find a replacement, but a conservative judge won’t let it, and the Navy won’t deploy a ship if it doesn’t trust the person leading it. In a court filing, the Pentagon said the judge’s existing order “presents a direct and imminent threat to national security during a global military crisis.” The Defense Department added, “By forcing the Navy to keep in place a commander of a destroyer who has lost the trust of his superior officers and the Navy at large, this Order effectively places a multi-billion dollar guided missile destroyer out of commission.” At a Thursday hearing, the judge — who boasted that masks were never required in his courtroom — didn’t appear willing to budge. Watch this space. Related:
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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