Former Coast Guardsman Separated for Refusing Vaccine Says He Was Forced to Pay Back Reenlistment Bonus

A former Coast Guard service member who was last year discharged for objecting to the Pentagon’s vaccine mandate said he was forced to pay back a reenlistment bonus, which another former officer described as “an attempt to humiliate” members who opposed the vaccine mandate.
Phil Southwell had served the country for almost 13 years before being discharged in August for objecting to the military vaccine mandate once embraced by the Department of Defense (D0D) and adopted by the Coast Guard. On Dec. 23, President Joe Biden signed the Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law, which prescribed the rescission of the mandate….}