Reserve C-5 pilot resigns angrily in Dover, Delaware

by Tom Eldred

Delaware State News

June 9, 2000

DOVER - Air Force Reserve Capt. Cheryl Angerer says she waited for months before reporting adverse reactions from the anthrax vaccine inoculation she received at Dover Air Force Base.

"I was definitely paranoid,'' she says. "I didn't know how it would affect my future.''

Capt. Angerer, a C-5 pilot with the 709th Airlift Squadron at Dover, got the shot in April 1999.

On Wednesday, she asked for reassignment so she can separate from the reserves.

"I have been a member of the 709th Airlift Squadron since 1991 and was proud to be a member of the squadron and the USAF Reserve,'' Capt. Angerer wrote in a letter to her squadron commander, Lt. Col. Robert Bell, seeking reassignment to the Air Reserve Personnel Center.

"As you know, last year the anthrax vaccination became mandatory for us here at Dover AFB. As you also know, I took one shot and, within hours of receiving it, had an adverse reaction to it.

"Since then many people in this squadron alone, along with many others throughout the military, have had adverse reactions to the shot. Many of these reactions have been much more severe than my own. These are facts.''

Capt. Angerer, 39, says she's still cleared for flying because she was given a medical waiver from taking further shots until next January. However, though she may have to wait six months for reassignment and separation, she wants out as soon as possible.

"Basically, my reaction to the shot started about four hours later,'' she says. "I felt a tingling and numbness in my left arm, all the way down to my fingertips. Later that night, it affected the entire left side of my body.

"About five days later, I started to get a ringing in my left ear that lasted about 48 hours. I still have symptoms, off and on, like a tingling sensation down both sides of my body. I am absolutely sure it's related to the shot. I never had anything like this before.''

She reported the reactions in July, four months after getting the inoculation.

Capt. Angerer says she decided to leave the reserves and go public with her request for reassignment after she discussed the vaccine program with another commander at Dover.

"He said all these reactions people are having are just paranoia,'' she says. "That got to me. That made me come forward. They're just blowing it off.''

In her letter, Capt. Angerer was sharply critical of the military's vaccination program.

"The Air Force denies responsibility for the damage it is causing among its own troops,'' she wrote. "The leadership is content to watch the decimation of squadron after squadron when the people are confronted with taking this unproven vaccine.

"This squadron alone went from having 58 assigned pilots to 39 assigned pilots when this vaccine was forced upon its people. We still have not recovered from this loss.

"This is a disgrace. It is a disgrace to watch the military collapse under the weight of its own leadership. It is a disgrace for the military to deny its responsibility to its members. It is a disgrace that the reserve command disregards its own regulations when it is expedient to it to do so.

"For these reasons I can no longer support or belong to this organization in good conscience.''

Lt. Beena Maharaj, 512th public affairs officer for the reserves at Dover, said her information on the number of vacant pilot slots in the 709th Airlift Squadron differs from Capt. Angerer's report.

"They do have 58 assignments and 50 are currently assigned,'' Lt. Maharaj said. "The lowest total, I believe, was last December when it was down to 46. It has not affected the unit's capability to perform assigned duties.''

She said the reserves take the loss of any personnel seriously.

"We're always working and trying to keep people on board,'' she said. "Each member of the Air Force Reserves is a valuable, trained national resource and we cannot afford to lose them. We do everything we can to keep them. At the same time, service in the reserves is voluntary, and we respect their wishes should they decide to go elsewhere.''

Lt. Maharaj declined to speculate as to why other pilots quit. "It could be for a variety of reasons,'' she said. "We don't take surveys.''

She also defended the vaccination program. "The anthrax threat is real and it is in the nation's best interest to protect our troops,'' she said.

Meanwhile, Capt. Angerer said she's secured a job with an airline in the private sector.

Would she change her mind about leaving the reserves in the event the Department of Defense alters or stops the vaccination program?

"I wouldn't want to stay now,'' she says. "They've shown me their true colors.''

Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or teldred@newszap.com.