2nd NBC Warfare Instructor Departs

[Guest guest]

Second NBC Warfare Instructor Departs Air Guard

Sights Opposition to Anthrax Vaccine as Reason

For Immediate Release

Thursday, October 14, 1999

Contact: SSgt. Sirchia

TSirchia@...

Peekskill, - Another Nuclear,Biological,Chemical Warfare instructor from the

105th Airlift Wing at Air Guard Base has departed the military

because of the forced Anthrax Vaccine inoculation. Staff Sergeant

Sirchia, a 12 year veteran of the military says he will not continue his

tour at the 105th because he his opposed to the DOD’s mandatory Anthrax shot.

“As a biological warfare instructor I have found that my professional

integrity is in question defending a vaccine that will not work,”said

Sirchia. The Anthrax Vaccine that was made 30 years ago, and was intended to

protect farmers from contracting the bacteria through the skin. The form of

Anthrax the military will be up against is called inhalational.

Servicemembers get infected by breathing the spores into their respiratory

tract.

“It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to discover that a vaccine that was made in

1970 with 50’s and 60’s technology will not protect you against the

multi-strained genetically engineered Anthrax of today,” Sirchia said to a

group of supporters on Saturday.

The forced Anthrax Vaccination will represent the ‘last straw” for many

members of the 105th, said Sirchia. By the time the Anthrax inoculation

resumes in May their will be many resignations, retirements and involuntary

departures.

“In the face of strong evidence that this vaccine program has failed, most of

the Officer Corps is silent,” Sirchia continued, “the Officers should be the

ones stepping out and making a stand.” Indeed many people in the military

today feel that the Officer Corps has become consumed with their individual

career aspirations. “They have become sheep, blind policy followers narrowly

focused on their careers and inattentive to their subordinates concerns.” “

Jellyback yes-men from the Pentagon to the base level infect the Officer

Corps,”said Sirchia. Even though many officers at oppose the forced

inoculation they are too “scared” to speak up-- they are cowards.

Sgt. Sirchia asserts that the Anthrax Vaccine is one of several factors of

dissent. He says the DOD’s current spin is that people are leaving because of

operational tempo. Stress do to frequency of mission is just a by-product of

what military members are really disgusted with--- and that’s the constant

barrage of other-than-war deployments and so called peacekeeping operations.

“Our military leaders have sold us out to the United Nations New World

Army,”said Sirchia. The Anthrax vaccine represents just another tool in the

systematic annihilation of the United States Military. Who cares about

attrition and retention in the Armed Forces when smaller forces from UN

member states could collectively mount a force much greater than our current

American Military Machine.

[Guest guest]

Gretchen, If you chose not to post this I'll understand! Robi

In a message dated 10/15/99 5:45:07 PM Pacific Daylight Time, WFMCo@...

writes:

<< 2nd NBC Warfare Instructor Departs >>

“In the face of strong evidence that this vaccine program has failed, most of

the Officer Corps is silent,†Sirchia continued, “the Officers should be the

ones stepping out and making a stand.†Indeed many people in the military

today feel that the Officer Corps has become consumed with their individual

career aspirations. “They have become sheep, blind policy followers narrowly

focused on their careers and inattentive to their subordinates concerns.†“

Jellyback yes-men from the Pentagon to the base level infect the Officer

Corps,â€said Sirchia. Even though many officers at oppose the forced

inoculation they are too “scared†to speak up-- they are cowards.

List,

Sorry but I as an enlisted person am totally offended by these

remarks!!!!!!!! However, true it may be of some officers I personally feel

to lump all Officers together is a disgrace. Since, I have been personally

effected and injured by this d@@n vaccine. I too have been discouraged and

disappointed by certain officers within the chain. But to make a blanket

statement such a this about the officer corps as a whole sickens me.

Although I have only been with the list since March I have met so many TRUE

OFFICERS AND LEADERS. Officers such as COL Redmond Handy, who retired his

birds not because he was faced with the immediate threat of the vaccine but

because of his own integrity. MAJ Rempfer and MAJ Dingle and the other

pilots from Conn. who did the research and brought this disgrace to national

attention and represented all of us during the initial hearing. LTC Heemstra

(Indiana) who placed his people and their well being first and lost his

command. There are more officers than I could ever begin to list that have

put there careers on the line for us enlisted and officers alike!! To make

blanket statements such as this are not only hurtful and destructive, but are

a prime example of the typical breakdown between the enlisted and officer

force. Throwing stones gets us absolutely no where. And as the saying goes

don't throw stones when you live in a glass house. I've been enlisted for 14

years and have seen as much if not more cowards/blind sheep, traitors

whatever you want to call them in our senior NCO's lately than I have in the

Officer Corps.

SSG Sirchia pull your self centered head out of the sand. I've been talking

with your so called " cowards " at , and from Michigan I know that they

are in the mists of the battle against this program. Have you talked with

them or do you prefer to pass rumors and judgment rather than fact?

To all of you Officers, commanders, pilots that have provided me and my

fellow " anthrax babies " from Michigan support, guidance and true leadership.

I SALUTE YOU NOW AND ALWAYS WILL. I'm truly ashamed that a fellow enlisted

person could make such a blanket statement. All of you that I have either

met personally or talked with have given me the strength and courage to

continue!

Sincerely,

TSG a (Robi) Groll

Michigan Air National Guard

[Guest guest]

You make a good point, I think I've been guilty of sometimes lumping

officers together without really thinking about what I was typing (I

think I did that a little bit in my last post I sent off to the list).

Often when we use general terms we don't really mean it to apply to all

officers. My commander of my Army Reserve unit, for example, is a very

honorable man who takes his command extremely seriously. He also is

very serious about the health and well being of his troops. So far he

has been very supportive of my concerns about the Anthrax Vaccine and

I'm sure will make the right decisions when it comes time for our unit

to take the shot next year.

The fact is, whether we like it or not, is that the majority of the

military is going along with the AVIP either because of fear or because

of ignorance to the facts. You are right. Senior NCO's who are pushing

this program as hard or harder then the officer corps deserve just as

much of the blame for not calling for a halt to this damaging program.

Senior NCO's are tasked with carrying out the orders of their officers.

They also are supposed to disobey unlawful orders and keep their

officers informed about the morale, opinions, and problems of the

enlisted ranks that they represent. In the Army, I have yet to hear of

any Command Sergeant Majors or even any Sergeant Majors who have opposed

the Anthrax vaccination program.

In the Army a Command Sergeant Major is held with the same respect (or

greater) as a General, simply because that rank in the enlisted corps is

supremely difficult to attain and is usually only attained by people

with excellent abilities and vast accomplishments in their military

career. I find it very sad that these Senior NCO's are not

representing their enlisted soldiers like they are supposed to.

But sadly, as in the officer corp, for every Senior NCO that speaks up

against the AVIP, there is a hundred more junior NCO's ready and eager

to take their place.

G.

Robi2662@... wrote:

>

> From: Robi2662@...

>

> Gretchen, If you chose not to post this I'll understand! Robi

>

> In a message dated 10/15/99 5:45:07 PM Pacific Daylight Time, WFMCo@...

> writes:

>

> << 2nd NBC Warfare Instructor Departs >>

>

> In the face of strong evidence that this vaccine program has failed, most of

> the Officer Corps is silent, Sirchia continued, the Officers should be the

> ones stepping out and making a stand. Indeed many people in the military

> today feel that the Officer Corps has become consumed with their individual

> career aspirations. They have become sheep, blind policy followers narrowly

> focused on their careers and inattentive to their subordinates concerns.â€

“

> Jellyback yes-men from the Pentagon to the base level infect the Officer

> Corps, said Sirchia. Even though many officers at oppose the forced

> inoculation they are too scared to speak up-- they are cowards.

>

> List,

>

> Sorry but I as an enlisted person am totally offended by these

> remarks!!!!!!!! However, true it may be of some officers I personally feel

> to lump all Officers together is a disgrace. Since, I have been personally

> effected and injured by this d@@n vaccine. I too have been discouraged and

> disappointed by certain officers within the chain. But to make a blanket

> statement such a this about the officer corps as a whole sickens me.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "

>

> TSG a (Robi) Groll

> Michigan Air National Guard

>

> ---

[Guest guest]

Rick,

Thank you for clearing that up and cleaning up/clarifying the original

scanned letter as well.

>>>>I am resending the original message just to be clear about what SSgt

Sirchia actually said, I have separated his quoted comments from other

comments I presume belong to Bill Mangieri. Both of these guys I am

sure fully comprehend that we have both many officers and senior NCO's

who are not standing up for what is right, and a few of each who are

(and are as appreciative as we all are for those few who are taking a

stand).

>>>>

Gretchen

List owner

[Guest guest]

Rick,

Thanks, for clearing this up. I apologize to all if I was out of line. For

some of us this issue touches us in more ways in one, it's not just losing

our careers, it's also taken our health. It's testing our faith in God and

Country every day, it's put undo stress on our families and friends. It's

often to easy to lash out rather than forgive. I often wonder how some of

out leaders can sleep at night knowing the devastation they are causing and

to all of us with this vaccine. I feel sad and disappointed in those that

have placed their careers ahead of the health and welfare of their people.

Recently in an interview with the PBS correspondent I was explaining the

feelings of betrayal I have experienced since becoming ill from the vaccine.

I stated that my uniform just didn't mean the same to me anymore, Betty Ann

continued to ask me why didn't I change careers? You know it took awhile,

but bottom line is The uniform and what it stands for does still mean

everything to me! I may be naive but I refuse to believe that all of DOD is

corrupt. I have to believe everyday that more and more will see the

devastation this program has had on us all and will stand up for what's

right.

In the mean time fighting among ourselves will only provide them the leverage

they need to divide and conquer. I promise I'll be more careful of my

emotional outbursts, and maybe a few others should do the same before the

send key is hit.

Apologizes,

TSG a (Robi) Groll

[Guest guest]

I think the problem most of us seem to have is thinking that DOD is some

magical organization on a different planet. The Department of Defense is a

group of PEOPLE who are supposed to work together to defend our country and

way of life. It is not supposed to defend other countries way of life, be a

police force or any of the other twisted missions we are doing. I watched an

AFN news clip about the infantry soldier in Bosnia and the unusual role they

play. These soldiers understand that they are the law of the land. It

dawned on me that we aren't training to defend our nation anymore, we are

training a military police force, period. What is the purpose of training

the military for police action? Is it to perform peace keeping missions or

is there another reason? These same troops are quietly learning to take

augment civil authorities in the event of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil,

but as learn how to help we continually take over more and more of the job.

In my command, we have a plan to take over completely until competent

civilian authority can assume control. Who determines what competent

civilian authority is? Who decides the proper time to back off and give the

job to the FBI, FEMA, etc? The way I understand the law, the miltiary

shouldn't be there at all, yet we have a plan to relinquish command.

Ladies and Gentlemen, WE are DOD. We are not a police force, we are a

fighting force with a sworn duty to defend the Constitution of the United

States against all enemies, foreign and abroad. I will do that but I WILL

NOT be part of any operation that takes control away from civilian authority.

If we don't stop this insanity it will be a very short time before our

Constitution is a historical document in a museum. If you are given an

unlawful order you are required to do two things. You must refuse the order

and you must report the illegal order to the chain of command. If the order

is from the chain of command, you keep going up till you get to a level that

did not make that order. Since the order to take the anthrax vaccine came

from the Secretary of Defense and the President already knows about the order

and hasn't revoked it, he is guilty of giving the illegal order. I agree

that it is time to take this out of the back alley and get it on main street

where the people we work for can see it. " Of the people, by the people and

for the people " still means something to me. DOD is not in charge of this

nation yet and we have a responsibility to ensure that the people remain in

control.

Sue in the courts. Get on talk radio. Write to your elected officials,

not just federal but local and state ... these are the PEOPLE we work for and

defend. Order those signs and post them where they can be seen. Don't just

talk to the military or the Congress, talk to the people. We need the people

or this country will rot from within just like all empires that turned

against itself due to arragant and self serving officials. It's time to love

our country enough to defend it before it is gone.