A new generation of soldiers questioning, sometimes quitting, over inoculation directives adds to recruiting woes.
by Marlowe Churchill
The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, California)
April 20, 2000
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE Doug Ward dreaded calling his
father, whose 30 years in the Air Force inspired him to join the
military. Ward would have to say he was going to disobey an order.
Ward, then a staff sergeant, refused to take the anthrax
vaccination last year, a decision that cost him a 12-year
military career. The Gulf War combat veteran, who had hitches in
the Marines, Army and Air Force Reserve, is on inactive status,
and cannot return to uniform unless he takes the shots.
"My father doesn't say much and there was a long pause,"
said the 31-year-old Hemet man. "And then he asked me if I
was sure that I was doing the right thing." Ward thought of
his health, of providing a secure future for his wife, Julia, and
their 15-month-old daughter Justina. He thought of his future
children. Ward says he loves the military, but he had to make a
decision. "I told him I was sure. I'm still sure," said
Ward, who now works for a private security firm. Ward became the
first person at March Air Reserve Base to refuse the anthrax
vaccination, which is part of a Defense Department program to
eventually inoculate 2.4 million service people. He is not alone.
As many as 16 March pilots and other air crew members have
retired or resigned over the issue, according to one of the
pilots who left the service.
So far, as many as 300 service people in the nation have refused the vaccine. An unknown number have resigned or retired from the service over fears -- the Pentagon says are unfounded -- that the vaccine may cause long-term illnesses. Some 50 people have been court-martialed. The Pentagon leaves it up to unit commanders to decide on disciplinary action. Pentagon challenge
The refusal to take the anthrax shots poses a new challenge for the Pentagon, which faces a young generation of soldiers whose fathers and grandfathers experienced the effects of atomic radiation, Agent Orange and mysterious Gulf War illnesses.
They are asking tough questions, looking for answers on their own and willing to break ranks. Many have surfed the World Wide Web for information on anthrax. They have found chat rooms where service people discuss the issue, the latest news stories on the subject, the Department of Defense official site and a broad range of scientific opinions and reports.
The willingness of soldiers to question orders or authority and reach their own conclusions is something new.
"When I was 23," recalled March commander Col. Peter T. Bentley, "they told us to shut up, get over there in a line and bend over (to get a shot). `Yes sir,' we said." He gave a crisp salute to make his point.
Bentley, with 30 years of Air Force service, was drilled with the same traditions as Ward's father.
Sam Ward of Belleville, Ill., respects his son's decision, but believes he personally would take the anthrax shots if he were back in an Air Force uniform.
"It's hard to second-guess what you would do," the elder Ward said. Ward's military generation may have second-guessed orders from their superiors, but they followed them, he said. "Knowing me, I'd take the first one," the elder Ward said, referring to the first in a series of six shots required for the immunization. "And if there was no reaction, I'd take the others."
Seeing no recourse
The Pentagon believes the threat of biological warfare in which anthrax spores could be used to disable U.S. troops is so severe that there is no recourse but to inoculate the entire military force, said spokesman Jim Turner. Spores that can cause death within hours could be sprayed over military units. The spores are odorless and so small that they are invisible to the naked eye.
Turner said the Pentagon has no idea how many have left the military over the anthrax shot issue. Those who leave the service may cite many reasons other than the anthrax shots, he said. "There is an urgent need to keep people informed. We don't want to lose a single troop because of this," Turner said. "We can't afford to not be prepared."
The Pentagon also is trying to explain to all active duty, reserve and guard personnel that the vaccination program is safe, with very few verified reports of serious side effects. But today's military generation is skeptical, recalling the Pentagon's history of radiation tests following World War II, when soldiers were marched toward Ground Zero where nuclear weapons had been detonated or exposed to fallout in other open-air nuclear tests.
The use of Agent Orange as defoliants during Vietnam caused severe skin disorders and other illnesses to some. And some sick Gulf War vets are questioning whether they suffer side-effects of numerous inoculations they received 10 years ago.
Recruiting shortages
All this is coming at a critical time. The military has faced recruiting shortages and is losing key personnel for higher-paying civilian jobs. March commander Bentley said common sense tells him the shot program is sound. "It's difficult to comprehend that any military force would deliberately be trying to destroy 2.4 million young people." Bentley has taken four of the anthrax shots and has experienced nothing more than a sore arm.
"I feel very comfortable that they are safe," Bentley said. But Bentley knows that there are doubts among the 4,100 reservists under his command and 7,300 who work at March, the nation's largest reserve and guard installation. Base officials stated that 16 air crew members at March's two C- 141 flying squadrons retired or resigned recently. Seven acknowledged that anthrax was the reason for their leaving.
March has a program to educate reservists on the shots. But base officials say there also is considerable "inaccurate" information being circulated on the Internet. "Misinformation can travel fast on the Internet," Bentley said. "It comes down to this. You have to decide whether this will harm you. If you think it harms you, if that's your decision, you cannot be in the Air Force Reserves. It's mandatory. You cannot have it both ways."
Retirement explained
Air Force Maj. Donnie Stephens decided shortly after Ward made his decision that the anthrax shots were unsafe for him. He said he did so, in part, based on information found on the Internet. "This is a very bad, bad idea," Stephens said of the shot program. The Phoenix resident retired as a reserve pilot at March last October after spending 20 years in the military. Stephens, a United Airlines pilot, believes the Air Force Reserve faces a wholesale departure of veteran pilots unless the Pentagon puts the inoculation program on hold. He said he was among the 16 air crew members to leave recently. "Our morale and retention are at an all-time low," he said. "This was my decision. I don't want any adverse reactions, and I don't want to see others get them either."
Currently, the dilemma over whether to take the shots mainly involves air crews who must fly missions to areas where the Pentagon believes there is a threat of a terrorist attack, Stephens said. Service people who are being deployed to the Middle East and South Korea and troops on stand-by who are ready to be deployed overseas are the first to receive the shots.
The Army National Training Center at Fort Irwin near Barstow has vaccinated about 400 soldiers who are being transferred overseas. None at the base, which has 4,600 soldiers, have refused the shot, said Army Maj. Pete Green. Four Marines at Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center were court-martialed last summer for failure to obey an order to take the shots.
Marine bases at Camp Pendleton, Twentynine Palms and Miramar have inoculated about 33,000 Marines so far. Marine officials said they could not readily provide the number of people who have refused the shots or been disciplined.
Issue hits home
For Doug Ward, the anthrax issue hit home when he was scheduled for a three-week deployment to South Korea as an intelligence specialist with the 701st Operations Squadron. He was first ordered to take the shots in July. "Me and my wife sat down and talked. I researched the issue, checking all the Web sites, weighing my options," Ward said. Ward is convinced that he got anthrax shots when he was sent to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War as part of a Marine Corps reconnaissance unit, although his shot records do not note he received the anthrax vaccine. He said he also took anti-nerve agent pills, but stopped when they made him groggy and listless. He was part of the force that freed Kuwait City, and was discharged after four years.
Later, while serving a four-year hitch in the Army as a parachute rigger, Ward said he met some Gulf War veterans who suffered skin rashes and maladies that many believe are part of the unexplained Gulf War illnesses. "This Gulf War Syndrome thing really raised a red flag with me," said Ward, who joined the reserves and served more than four years. But he said the official Pentagon statements did not convince him that the vaccine was safe, particularly after reading news stories, various medical sites and other information circulating on the Internet.
Ward said he was counseled by military medical experts on anthrax before he made his final decision on Sept. 3. He then was given a grace period to reconsider, and was placed on inactive status without pay for two years. During that period, he could be re-called to service in a national emergency -- again ordered to take the shots.
If re-called to combat, he would take the shots out of patriotic duty, he said. "I have a spotless record. This was not the way I wanted to go out. This was the hardest decision I had to make. I knew my career was going down the tubes. I didn't do it to be difficult. I'm not trying to buck the system.
"People are resisting because deep down they feel something is wrong with the system."
Marlowe Churchill can be reached by e-mail at mchurchill@pe.com or by phone at (909) 656-3339.