Hokanson had been in Europe over Thanksgiving week visiting deployed troops in Poland and Kosovo, the place he was examined at every cease, in line with a DoD official who requested to not be named to debate a delicate concern. He examined optimistic upon returning to Washington, the official added.
It is not clear if Hokanson had any contact with different members of the Joint Chiefs since his return from Europe, the official mentioned. The commanders of the Military, Navy, Air Power and Marine Corps are all scheduled to talk on the Reagan Nationwide Protection Discussion board in Simi Valley, Calif., on Saturday. Up to now none has canceled their look.
The information of Hokanson’s optimistic check comes amid growing tensions between elements of the Nationwide Guard and senior Pentagon management over the Protection Division’s vaccine mandate.
Final month, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt ordered Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, the state’s adjutant common, to inform the state’s Nationwide Guard troopers and airmen that they’d not be required to get their pictures.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby maintained on the time that “[it] is a lawful order for Nationwide Guardsmen to obtain the Covid vaccine.”
On Tuesday, the Related Press reported that Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin had determined that Nationwide Guard members who refuse vaccination might be barred from federally funded drills and coaching required to take care of their Guard standing.
