Associated Press

October 10, 2000

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - One year ago, a former squadron commander in the Indiana Air National Guard told Congress that half his F-16 pilots would leave if ordered to take an anthrax vaccine.

Retired Lt. Col. Tom Heemstra says his prediction has since come true and he's preparing to stand before Congress again. This time, he'll also be armed with stories of pilots who say they were driven from base or threatened with courts-martial because they would not roll up their sleeves.

``In my mind, that justifies everything we've said for a year and everything I've done to go to bat for my people,'' said Heemstra, who claims he was removed from his command position, then forced to retire for not taking the vaccine.

He is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the House Government Reform Committee about how the anthrax inoculation program has affected the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne. Joining him will be Capt. Dan Marohn, a pilot at the base who was fined for disobeying an order, then threatened with jail time.

``If I have to sacrifice my career to make a little dent in this program to expose it for what it really is, then it was all worth it,'' Marohn said.

Anthrax is a disease that typically afflicts animals, especially sheep and cattle. When inhaled, dry anthrax spores, which can be put into weapons, can cause death in humans. The U.S. vaccine, licensed by the Food and Drug Administration in 1970, is given in a series of six shots over 18 months plus an annual booster. The Department of Defense had ordered all 2.4 million active and reserve personnel to be inoculated.

Some officers began questioning the safety and effectiveness of the shot more than a year ago after reports of adverse reactions. At a congressional hearing last week, the FDA said more than 1,500 people have reported such reactions but that there was no clear pattern of illness.

The Pentagon, the FDA and the vaccine's manufacturer all insist it is safe. The plan to inoculate all service members has been cut back because of a vaccine shortage.

Earlier this year, a House subcommittee urged the Defense Department to suspend the anthrax program until it obtains approval for an improved vaccine.

So far, officials with the Indiana Air National Guard say the vaccination program has gone smoothly and the issue is one of orders - not anthrax.

``The military is not Burger King, you know, it's not 'Have it your way,''' said Col. J. Stewart Goodwin, Guard spokesman. ``The order was given for us, as military people, to take the shot. Those who decided to do something else disobeyed an order. It's very fundamental.''

As of last week, about 447,000 service members had received one or more doses of the vaccine, and 442 have refused to take the shot, said Charles Cragin, the principal deputy defense undersecretary.

At Fort Wayne, several pilots said about 15 people have either resigned, retired or transferred from the base at least partly due to the vaccine. Many of those pilots, including Heemstra, said they did not list the anthrax vaccination as a reason for their departures for fear of retribution.

But Goodwin, who said he signs papers of those leaving the base, said only one person has resigned as ``a result of the actual anthrax situation.'' He added that flying F-16s is very grueling and ``people come and go all the time.''

Lt. Col. Patrick Ross, a former squadron commander at Battle Creek, Mich., also was to testify at Wednesday's hearing. Ross said 17 people in his Guard unit did not want to take the anthrax vaccination, and 15 of them, including himself, left the base.

``It almost couldn't get any worse had we gone to war and taken casualties,'' he said.