The new hats and shoulder bars for the graduates sit on a table before the start of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s 141st Commencement Exercises Wednesday, May 18, 2022 in New London, Conn. The Coast Guard Academy is “disenrolling” seven cadets for failing to comply with the military’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, after their requests for religious exemptions were denied and they were ordered to leave campus. The academy in New London, Connecticut, confirmed the disenrollments Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, The Day newspaper reported. (AP Photo / Stephen Dunn, File)

The new hats and shoulder bars for the graduates sit on a table before the start of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s 141st Commencement Exercises Wednesday, May 18, 2022 in New London, Conn. The Coast Guard Academy is “disenrolling” seven cadets for failing to comply with the military’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, after their requests for religious exemptions were denied and they were ordered to leave campus. The academy in New London, Connecticut, confirmed the disenrollments Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, The Day newspaper reported. (AP Photo / Stephen Dunn, File)

Unvaccinated cadets ordered off Coast Guard Academy campus

The academy in New London, Connecticut, confirmed the disenrollments Tuesday.

NEW LONDON, Conn. — The Coast Guard Academy is disenrolling seven cadets for failing to comply with the military’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, after their requests for religious exemptions were denied and they were ordered to leave campus.

The academy in New London, Connecticut, confirmed the disenrollments Tuesday, The Day newspaper reported. A lawyer for several of the cadets said they were told on Aug. 18 that they had to leave campus by 4 p.m. the next day.

“They were escorted to the gate like they were criminals or something,” the lawyer, Michael Rose, told the newspaper.

“No one helped them with travel arrangements or gave them any money,” said Rose, based in Summerville, South Carolina. “One had to get to California, one to Alaska. One’s estranged from home and living out of his truck, according to an email I received describing his situation.”

Rose said two of the seven cadets had no homes to return to.

The cadets’ names have not been released. Rose said academy officials were “particularly mean-spirited” and could have waited until pending lawsuits challenging the military’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement were concluded.

In one of those lawsuits, Rose is representing more than 30 plaintiffs, including military personnel and service academy cadets, in litigation pending in federal court in South Carolina. Several of the cadets are from the Coast Guard Academy.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last year made the COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for service members, including those at the military academies, saying the vaccine is critical to maintaining military readiness and the health of the force.

At least 98% of all active duty military members are either fully or partially vaccinated, according to the military branches. To date, about 5,700 service members have been discharged from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps for refusing to get vaccinated.

Earlier this year, three cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy who refused the vaccine were not commissioned as military officers but were allowed to graduate with bachelor’s degrees, while the other military academies said all their cadets were in compliance with the vaccine mandate.

A Coast Guard Academy spokesman, David Santos, said the seven cadets there were found to be in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for disobeying a superior officer and failing to obey an order or regulation. The cadets requested religious exemptions that were denied by school officials, he said.

Their disenrollments are in the process of being finalized, he said.

More in News

The Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore docks in Juneau in October, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Ships in Port for t​​he Week of Oct. 1

Here’s what to expect this week.

Michael Beasley drops a ballot into a drop box at the City Hall Assembly Chambers on Election Day Tuesday morning. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Preliminary election results: Tight Assembly races, narrow City Hall rejection

Results released early Wednesday, more votes to be counted in next two weeks.

Students in the Juneau School District fared better on standardized science tests during the past year than their peers statewide, but the local proficiency score of about 43% was nearly 6% lower than the local scores last year, according to results released last Friday. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Statewide test scores show Alaska’s students still struggling

About 37% proficient in science statewide; Juneau at 43%, down from 48.6% a year ago.

A closed sign sits on Delta’s ticket counter after hours inside Juneau International Airport in August of 2022. The airline announced this week it is suspending service between Juneau and Seattle from Nov. 4 to June 6, 2024. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire File)
Delta Air Lines canceling Juneau-Seattle flights from Nov. 4 until early next June

Airline cites “commercial and operational constraints,” analyst says higher local airfares likely.

Residents sit in voter booths at the voter center located at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library on Tuesday afternoon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Election Day kicks off in Juneau

Preliminary results of municipal election expected to be announced late Tuesday night.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Police calls for Monday, Oct. 2, 2023

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., leaves the House floor after being ousted as Speaker of the House at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
McCarthy becomes the first speaker ever to be ousted from the job in a House vote

WASHINGTON — Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the job Tuesday… Continue reading

An exercise station at Anchorage’s Westchester Lagoon is seen on Monday. The “Fitness Cluster” offers opportunities for strength and cardiovacular training, and signage gives fitness information and advice. Two-thirds of Alaska adults are overweight or obese, and about a fifth of them engage in no physical activity, according to an annual report released by the state Department of Health. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Report: Alaskans dogged by chronic diseases

Many residents lack healthy lifestyles or regular screenings.

Most Read