Declaration of Air Force Special Agent (2022-03-31)

Summary

Declaration of an unnamed Air Force Special Agent in Air Force Officer v. Lloyd J. Austin, III, et al., Case No. 5:22-cv-00009-TES (M.D. Ga.), filed 03/31/22 as Document 65-9. The declarant, an Air Force Office of Special Investigations agent serving in the Reserve as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee, states that a request for religious accommodation from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement submitted November 1, 2021 was denied on or about January 18, 2022 and the appeal finally denied on February 17, 2022, after a Director of Staff said no exemption had been granted in the Air Force. The declarant states that a Letter of Reprimand was issued on March 18, 2022 for failure to timely comply. Based on Air Force statistics, the declarant says the service recognizes at least 1,102 medical and at least 1,407 administrative accommodations.

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
MACON DIVISION

AIR FORCE OFFICER, on behalf of herself
)
and all others similarly situated,
)
Case No. 5:22-cv-00009-TES

)

Plaintiff,
)
v.

)

)
LLOYD J. AUSTIN, III, in his
)
official capacity as Secretary of Defense;
)
FRANK KENDALL, III, in his
)
official capacity as Secretary of the Air Force; and  )
ROBERT I. MILLER, in his
)
official capacity as Surgeon General of the
)
Air Force,

)

)

Defendants.
)

DECLARATION OF AIR FORCE SPECIAL AGENT

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I, Air Force Special Agent, under penalty of perjury
declare as follows:
1.
I am over the age of eighteen and am competent to make this declaration.
2.
I currently serve as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) within the
Reserve Component of the United States Air Force. In my employment as a Special Agent with
the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (“OSI”) since 2013, although I have worked in a
variety of geographic regions within the United States including as a base-level fraud agent,
criminal branch chief, and as a superintendent at numerous detachments, I have never been
deployed overseas. It is highly likely that I will never be deployed in my capacity as an OSI
Special Agent, because it would take an order from the Secretary of Defense himself to deploy
me.
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3.
I have served my country for over 10 years, having been on Active Duty before
going on Reserves, and planned to serve another 15 years and maximize my retirement benefits.
4.
The military has rewarded me with fifteen (15) medals for my service, including
two Air and Space Commendation Medals, an Air and Space Achievement Medal, and an Air
Force Good Conduct Medal.
5.
Until receiving a Letter of Reprimand for not getting the COVID-19 vaccination,
I have never been disciplined by the Air Force, nor has there ever been cause to discipline me for
any reason.
6.
I am a Christian, and the Bible is the authoritative text for my faith. My religious
conscience is formed by biblical teachings, the counsel of church leaders, Scripture, and prayer.
7.
Based on these sources, I believe my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit that
must be kept pure (1 Cor. 3:16-17), and injection of a foreign substance containing in some cases
aborted fetal cells, animal parts, carcinogens, and chemical waste, violates this mandate (Genesis
9:4, Leviticus 17:11, 17:14, Deuteronomy 12:23, Leviticus 17:10, Acts 15:20, and Acts 15:29).
8.
On November 1, 2021 I submitted a request for religious accommodation to the
requirement that I take the COVID-19 vaccination. (Exhibit 1, attached).
9.
I received notice of the denial of my request for religious accommodation on or
about January 18, 2022. (Ex. 2, attached.)
10.
I timely appealed that denial on January 22, 2022. (Ex. 3, attached.) Before filing
my appeal, I telephoned the Director of Staff to ask about the process for appeals, the options
available to me, and any additional resources that might be of assistance in preparing my appeal.
The Director interrupted my questions to inform me that that there had not been a single
exemption granted in the Air Force, and although I had a right to appeal, it was highly likely that
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it would be denied. In fact, he left no doubt that my appeal would be denied, and I would then
have to take the vaccine.
11.
As the Director had predicted, on February 17, 2022, I received notice of the final
denial of the appeal of my religious accommodation request (Ex. 4, attached).
12.
Because I was not eligible for retirement, the only options I was given were to
either take the vaccine or to face discipline.
13.
On March 2, 2022, I was informed that I was being promoted, but warned again
that to fulfill the duties of the new position and continue serving in the Air Force I would be
required to comply with the vaccine mandate.
14.
On January 18, 2022, I had tested positive for COVID-19, and have since fully
recovered. I continue to maximize telework and remote work, wear a mask, and practice social
distancing when inside the office or traveling. Additionally, in my civilian job I screen weekly
for COVID-19.
15.
In my home state of California as well as under CDC guidance, those who have
tested positive for COVID-19 and are no longer symptomatic are advised to wait 90 days to take
the vaccine. I therefore requested an extension of the deadline for compliance with the mandate.
In addition, I had been informed that I had five days after final denial of my appeal to “initiate”
the process, and that it must be completed no later than seven weeks from receipt of the denial.
(See Ex. 2, ¶¶ 2 and 3.)
16.
I therefore scheduled an appointment to take the vaccine, under duress, because
even though it went against my religion, I did not believe I could give up my livelihood at this
time, because I have a wife and children to provide for and I am the sole provider in my family. I
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was unable to keep my appointment, however, due to a scheduling conflict with my civilian job.
I therefore rescheduled my appointment to take the vaccine.
17.
Nevertheless, on March 18, 2022, I was issued a Letter of Reprimand for failure
to timely comply with the order to obtain the vaccine (Ex. 6, attached). I was given forty-five
(45) days to submit comments or documents for consideration. The specific punishment to be
meted out was not set forth.
18.
If I am discharged, I stand to lose my health insurance, my Air Force salary,
future retirement and lifetime medical benefits, as well as opportunities for advancement.
19.
I do not oppose all vaccines.  I oppose the currently available COVID-19 vaccines
for religious reasons.
20.
I am aware of the following military orders purportedly requiring me to take the
vaccine:

a.
Department of Defense August 24, 2021 Order (Ex. 1 to Doc. 2-2);
b.
Department of Air Force September 3, 2021 Order (Ex. 2 to Doc. 2-2);
c.
Department of Air Force December 7, 2021 Supplemental Vaccine Policy
(attached as Ex. 5).
21.
I am aware of AFI 48-110 (Ex. 7 to Doc. 2-2), an Air Force instruction.
22.
I am also aware of reported information publicly available from the Air Force,
including https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2959594/daf-covid-19-statistics-
march-29-2022/, relating to religious accommodation requests.
23.
Based on information publicly available from the Air Force, including
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2959594/daf-covid-19-statistics-march-29-
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2022/, I understand that the Air Force currently recognizes at least 1,102 medical
accommodations.
24.
Further, also based on information publicly available from the Air Force,
including https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2959594/daf-covid-19-statistics-
march-29-2022/, I understand the Air Force currently recognizes at least 1,407 administrative
accommodations.
25.
Based on information publicly available from the Air Force, including
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2959594/daf-covid-19-statistics-march-29-
2022/, I understand that at least 96.5% of Air Force service members have received COVID-19
vaccinations.
26.
I am not aware of any military branch (including the Air Force, Navy, Army,
Marines, and Coast Guard) granting any religious accommodation requests to service members
not already slated for separation, and I’m aware that the Pentagon’s Inspector General is
investigating whether the military’s process for considering and denying religious
accommodation requests to COVID-19 vaccination complies with its own protocols.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/03/02/pentagon-watchdog-investigate-militarys-
covid-19-exemption-process.html.
27.
My request for a religious exemption would not seriously impact my ability to
perform my duties. As a reservist, I work only one day each month and two weeks each year.
Throughout the pandemic, senior OSI leaders have strongly encouraged telework, rather than
coming into an office. In fact, I live in a different state than that in which my base is located, and
have not had to set foot inside the office at headquarters for years. I work out of an isolated,
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single-person office and was never a threat to the mission and maintained good health throughout
the pandemic. Furthermore, numerous vacancies have been advertised that are 100% telework.
28.
Moreover, the OSI has civilian agents who perform virtually identical duties to
mine. But the federal civilian mandate was enjoined by a federal court in Texas, and ever since
the OSI civilian agents have not been required to take the vaccine yet have been allowed to
continue working, upon information and belief, without any additional restraints imposed upon
them.
29.
In addition, with our current capabilities, all meetings and trainings are either
telephonic, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, etc., and there is always an option to dial in by
phone. All official documents can be digitally signed, and everyone has become accustomed to
conducting business through email/phone, and most prefer the flexibility of continuing to work
in a highly socially distanced environment. In short, in my current position there are virtually no
physical interactions with others and COVID-19 is not a factor.
30.
The OSI Reserve Common Training Assembly (“CTA”) took place on January 8-
9, 2022, and was entirely virtual. OSI senior leaders described the virtual event as highly
successful, the first in over twelve years, and an extremely effective forum for hundreds of OSI
Individual Mobilization Augmentees (“IMAs”) that were geographically dispersed throughout
the U.S. and abroad to “meet” with OSI leaders and other Air Force leaders who may have not
had the opportunity to travel to a similar, in-person meeting. During the virtual CTA, it was
reiterated to us that due to a limited budget, OSI IMAs will not be provided any specialized
training, nor be sent to any additional courses. Due to the slowed-down deployment tempo,
IMA’s would likely not get the opportunity to deploy.
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31.
I have maintained and continue to maintain protocols for health and safety, I have
no known comorbidities, and to my knowledge I have not transmitted COVID-19 to others.
32.
My Air Force career has been entirely in the interest of military readiness, unit
cohesion, good order, discipline, health, and safety.
33.
Based on Facebook comments that I am aware of related to the WMAZ and
WGXA news reports about Air Force Officer and this case (Docs. 48 and 49), and based on
numerous other public statements made by individuals in government or the media that are
critical of people not taking the COVID-19 vaccine, I am concerned about serious social
stigmatization and my personal safety and security.
34.
I have talked with others in the military who expressed to me that they want to
speak out in opposition to the vaccine mandates but are afraid to do so.
35.
The attached exhibits are redacted to remove some personal identifiers.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.  Executed on
March 30, 2022.

/s/Air Force Special Agent

Air Force Special Agent
Case 5:22-cv-00009-TES   Document 65-9   Filed 03/31/22   Page 7 of 7

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