New General Leading Oklahoma National Guard Takes Stand Against Biden’s Military Vax Mandates
There is a new general leading the Oklahoma National Guard, and he doesn’t care a bit for Joe Biden’s military vaccine mandates.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) surprised the state by announcing that he was promoting Adjutant General Thomas Mancino from assistant adjunct general to the top National Guard post.
Michael Thompson, the OK Guard’s former leader claimed he was only made aware that he was fired over Twitter, but Gov. Stitt said that Thompson was informed through the proper channels.
Thompson had been a vocal supporter of Biden’s vaccine mandates, but Gov. Stitt recently filed for a vax exemption for OK Guard members.
Unsurprisingly, once Mancino took command o the state’s forces, he immediately announced that he would not require his soldiers to take the vaccine, a move in direct contravention to Biden’s orders.
“This policy is not anti-vaccine. I and the Governor are both vaccinated. I encourage all our Oklahoma Guard Members to get vaccinated if they choose to do so,” Mancino said in a statement. “We want to educate and inform our Soldiers and Airmen so that they can make an informed decision regarding the DoD Vaccine Mandate.”
Mancino went on to cite Title 32 of the U.S. legal code to support his decision. Under federal law, National Guard units, though federally funded, are state-controlled. According to Mancino, this means that, so long as the Oklahoma National Guard are not activated by the president via Title 10, they take orders from the state chain of command.
“If you [Oklahoma Guard Members] are not mobilized on Title 10 orders, the only entity that can give you a ‘lawful’ order — that is an order backed by the authority of law — is the Governor and his designated State chain of command. That ‘law’ is Title 32 U.S. code,” Mancino said. “This is easily seen by the fact that the UCMJ does not apply to you in Title 32 status. Instead, you are governed by the Oklahoma Code of Military Justice.”
The federal government has not yet responded to Mancino’s policy statement.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.
