Oklahoma State Defense Force
On 02 November 2021 Governor Kevin Stitt sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin requesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates be suspended for members of the Oklahoma National Guard. An estimated 800 Oklahoma guardsmen have not received or are not planning to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, which is about 10% of Oklahoma’s overall force. “This mandate violates the personal freedoms of many Oklahomans, as it asks them to potentially sacrifice their personal beliefs in order to not lose their jobs. ... It is irresponsible for the federal government to place mandatory vaccine obligations on Oklahoma national guardsmen which could potentially limit the number of individuals that I can call upon to assist the state during an emergency,” wrote Governor Stitt.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned on 30 November 2021 that unvaccinated members of the National Guard won't be paid and won't be allowed to participate in training, drills and deployments. In a memo to the Joint Chiefs chairman, the service secretaries and the head of the National Guard Bureau, Austin wrote that Pentagon funds cannot be used "for payment of duties performed under Title 32 for members of the National Guard who do not comply" with the military's vaccine requirement. Title 32 refers to National Guard operations under state orders, as opposed to operations under federal orders, which are called Title 10. Both are paid for by the federal government.
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