Pilot brings his career -- and vaccine battle -- to an end

by Christopher Thorne

Delaware State News (Associated Press)

March 31, 2000

There was no brass band, no ceremony and no honor guard of jets roaring
overhead. After nearly 14 years as an Air Force pilot, it took only 25
minutes for Maj. Sonnie Bates to sign papers and drop off ID badges and
parking stickers to become a civilian.

Bates completed his general discharge under honorable conditions Thursday,
ending his fight against an order to take an anthrax vaccine he calls a
threat to the health of soldiers, sailors and airmen.

Before he was offered the discharge 10 days ago, Bates had faced sanctions
ranging from fines to court-martial with up to five years in prison for
refusing an order. He is believed to have been the highest-ranking officer in
the Air Force to face a court-martial for refusing an order to take the
vaccine.

About 200 to 300 service personnel have disobeyed the order to take the
six-injection vaccine series since the Pentagon began inoculating its
personnel in August 1998. Some have been prosecuted, and some reservists have
quit instead of taking the shots.

After dropping off the last of the paperwork at a cinder-block building at
Dover Air Force Base, Bates turned to his wife, mother and daughter and
tugged at the pockets of his flight suit.

"I guess I have to get out of this uniform. I'm not in the Air Force any
more," he said.

Officers and airmen who retire or end their enlistment under normal
circumstances get a sendoff that may include ceremonies and classes on
adapting to civilian life, said Tech. Sgt. Paul Fazzini, a Dover Air Force
Base spokesman.

But not Bates.

"I'm getting the stripped down version," he said.

He is also forfeiting his military pension, some retirement benefits and a
good salary.

He is looking at commercial piloting jobs with starting salaries far below
the $72,000 he drew from the Air Force.

Bates said commercial carriers start pilots at about $25,000, then increase
their pay as they move up through the ranks. "That's the dues you have to
pay," he said.

Meanwhile, he said, he has filed numerous resumes and applications to win a
management job.

"Whatever job comes through first is what I'll do," he said.

The family has sold their van and their satellite dish. The Bates will be
asking the BMW dealer if they can end their lease early.

"It's really tough to have to transition this late in life," said Bates, 35.

Bonnie Van Arsdale, Bates' mother, said it breaks her heart to see how the
Air Force handled the end of her son's military career.

"This is so dishonorable to me, asking him to just go around filing
paperwork, with nothing else after so long as a credible, good pilot," she
said.

Driving on and off the base on his final day in uniform, other airmen waved,
honked or gave him the thumbs-up. Waiting for a traffic light on base to
change, the driver of the car in front of Bates hopped out to run back and
shake his hand through the window.

"What we really want to come out of all this is for Congress to take this
issue to the floor and debate it," Bates said. "I don't have to worry about
the vaccine, but there are a lot of people who do."