A newly circulated Air Force memorandum has quietly expanded the criteria for Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Exceptions to Policy (ETP), effectively creating a system where few, if any, can avoid compromising their religious convictions during their service.
As previously reported over a year ago by The Gateway Pundit, a major Cleveland Clinic study of its workforce during the 2024–2025 respiratory viral season raised significant questions about the influenza vaccine’s effectiveness. The research, which tracked more than 53,000 employees, found that vaccinated working-age adults were statistically more likely to contract influenza compared to their unvaccinated colleagues.
Even after adjusting for variables including age, sex, occupational role, and worksite location, the data indicated a 27 percent higher risk of influenza infection among those who received the vaccine.
Against the backdrop of emerging concern over the flu shot’s effectiveness and efficacy, the new Air Force directive directly contradicts the April 20th declaration from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who stated unequivocally that “effective immediately,” neither Active nor Reserve personnel—nor civilian employees of the Department of War—would be compelled to take the influenza vaccine.
The move has ignited immediate concern among service members with religious objections to vaccination, many of whom are still recovering from what one attorney called “the purge” during the COVID-19 era.
“This is deeply disappointing,” said Davis Younts, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and military defense attorney who represented numerous clients during the height of the military’s 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate disputes. “Every time something like this happens, I immediately think of the clients who will be impacted.”
Younts estimates he has already heard from nearly half a dozen individuals since the memo circulated—clients who, since COVID, “have done the research, put the thought in, and have valid, significant, reasonable religious objections to vaccines.” For them, he said, the October 20 guidance isn’t just another memo—it’s a breach of trust.
According to the memo, the updated policy mandates that the following personnel receive the annual seasonal influenza vaccine—a requirement that, given the broad categories, will apply to virtually every Air Force member at some point in their career:
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Recruits, training populations, and congregate living
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Rapid Deployment Forces and “no-fail” missions
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Deployed forces
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Healthcare personnel
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Civilian personnel employed in child development and youth services programs; and Air Mobility Command military personnel assigned as aircrew supporting United States Transportation Command taskings; en route care personnel; and executive airlift personnel
“The Air Force in particular has done nothing significant to earn back the trust of those impacted by religious accommodation denials during COVID,” Younts stated.
“But the bigger issue,” he emphasized, “is that no one has been held accountable for violating the religious rights of service members.” Not a single officer who rubber-stamps these religious accommodation denials has faced reprimand or review.
“I have zero faith in the system,” Younts said bluntly. “We just got people back in the aircraft, back in training, ready to be competitive for promotion—and now we’re right back where we started. It’s insane.”
When asked who might be behind the push of this new guidance, Younts speculated it likely originated from the Surgeon General’s office. “The medical establishment is either supportive of every vaccine for every situation, or scared to speak ill against any vaccine,” he said.
The memorandum could leave service members facing an impossible choice between conscience and career—a dilemma that echoes far beyond this flu season into questions about institutional trust and whether constitutional protections truly extend into uniform.
For those whose take a religious objection to vaccines, this apprehension about their future is not just personal—it’s systemic. “Without accountability and without genuine oversight,” Younts warned, “there is a real concern the religious accommodation process will once again be abused. And you’ll see another purge.”
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