Navy SEALs have been informed by superiors that they won’t be deployed if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine, even if they’re granted a religious or medical exemption, according to lawyers representing the elite special operations troops and a document seen by The Epoch Times.
“What they’ve been told is if they apply for a religious accommodation, they will no longer be deployable,” R. Davis Younts, who is representing seven SEALs and is in talks to take on approximately 20 others, told The Epoch Times.
Timothy Parlatore, whose firm represents a number of SEALs and other service members concerned about the vaccines, said his clients have also been given a similar ultimatum.
Some SEALs have even been sent home mid-deployment for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine, one of his clients told him.
A document presented to the SEALs says that any special operations personnel, including Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen, “who refuse to receive the COVID-19 vaccine based solely on personal or religious beliefs will be disqualified from [special operations] duty.” It was signed by Capt. Liam Hulin.
“This will affect deployment and special pays,” the document also states. “This provision does not pertain to medical contraindications or allergies to vaccine administration.”
The reasons the SEALs don’t want a shot are the same as many unvaccinated Americans. They believe they have so-called natural immunity, or protection against reinfection after getting COVID-19 and recovering. And a subset are Christians who don’t want any medicines that are developed using cells from aborted fetuses.
“These guys are not anti-vax, they just—given the extraordinarily low risk of COVID to them and the substantial risk of unknown long-term effects of the vaccine—they aren’t comfortable with it right now,” Parlatore told The Epoch Times.
The exact number of SEALs considering not getting a vaccine isn’t known, but both Parlatore and a pastor who is advising some of them say it’s in the hundreds. The loss of that many SEALs could devastate the elite force, which has 2,450 active-duty members. So far, lawyers have not been successful in attempts to convince military leaders to alter the harsh mandate.
Shortly after U.S. drug regulators in August approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered troops to get a shot. Austin directed the heads of every branch to draft requirements, which are all similar. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro issued a vaccine mandate on Aug. 30 that said active-duty Navy personnel would have to be fully vaccinated, or have a full vaccine regimen, by Nov. 28.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has previously said troops can request exemptions, but no exemptions were outlined in the order and sailors were told they would face punitive measures if they don’t comply.
The Navy declined to answer questions for this article. The Naval Special Warfare Command did not respond to a request for comment.