By CHRISTOPHER THORNE

Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, February 2, 2000 10:38 PM ET

DOVER, Del. (AP) - An Air Force major who faces a possible court-martial for refusing to take an anthrax vaccination waived his right Wednesday to a hearing that would have given him details of the charges.

Maj. Sonnie Bates faces up to five years in a military prison for disobeying an order. Bates, a veteran pilot with nearly 14 years of service, says he fears the anthrax vaccine may be harmful to his health.

The Department of Defense has ordered all of its 2.4 million active and reserve soldiers, sailors and airmen to be vaccinated against anthrax, a chemical weapon thought to be a biological threat against the United States.

Several soldiers have refused the shots, but Bates is believed to be the highest-ranking officer in the Air Force to face court-martial for his refusal.

An investigating officer would have laid out evidence against Bates at Thursday's Article 32 hearing and made a recommendation on whether to pursue a full court-martial.

The Air Force was planning to use the hearing as a stage to promote the vaccine instead of addressing the charge, Bates said in a telephone interview from his Ellendale home.

``Because the officer in charge of the investigation has no authority to drop the charges, the hearing wasn't going to do me any good anyway,'' Bates said. ``I refused to be exploited for this reason.''

The decision of whether to continue with a court-martial lies with Col. S. Taco Gilbert III, Bates' commander.

Bates, 35, grew concerned about the anthrax vaccine after he said members of his squadron in the 436th Airlift Wing got sick following the shots.

Maj. Frank Smolinsky, chief of public affairs at Dover Air Force Base, says the vaccine has not sickened an inordinate number of service personnel.