National Guard lost thousands of service members, could lose more due to COVID-19 vaccine mandate

The National Guard lost roughly 7,500 service members in the past year, and could lose more as a result of the government's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, The Epoch Times reports.

Part of the reason that recruiting numbers are so low for the national guard and the military in general is that more and more soldiers are choosing not to reenlist after their tour ends, according to the Associated Press, while others are choosing early retirement.

Army National Guard chief of staff Maj. Gen. Rich Baldwin said in an interview with the AP that current staffing challenges are the worst he's seen in 20 years. 

The Army National Guard is predicting the loss of up to 14,000 soldiers across the United States over the next couple of years if they refuse to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to The Epoch Times.

Deputy chief of the Army National Guard Strength Maintenance Division Anson D. Smith told reporters back in September that the army is projecting a loss of about 9,000 soldiers in fiscal year 2023, and another 5,000 soldiers in fiscal 2024.

At the moment, no members of the National Guard have been discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. 

"Right now, we haven't had any discharges because of COVID, because we still, again, are waiting on the phase two memorandum from the Secretary of the Army before we get into who will be discharged based off refusals" to take the COVID vaccine, Smith told reporters.

According to data released by the U.S. Army, 9,835 Army National Guard members have refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine.