Application Denied: Another Dive into the Failures of Military Bureaucracy and COVID-19 Mandate Relief

On September 23, 2021, an active-duty Air Force officer who has served for 18 years submitted a request for a religious accommodation for the COVID-19 shot mandate. Four and a half years later, there is still derogatory paperwork in his personnel file, leaving him ineligible or significantly disadvantaged for all career advancement and more.

This story provides an update on developments from September 2025 and March 2026, reinforcing J.M. Phelps’ assertion that the Board of Correction of Military Records (BCMR) is “ineffective” and frequently highlights the widespread “bureaucratic malfeasance” within the military institution, providing little more than a “half measure” to service members, as in the case of Air Force Captain Anthony Monteleone.

Furthermore, concerning Air Force BCMR (AFBCMR), the situation underscores how their decisions are a direct affront to the goals of President Donald Trump and Department of War (DOW) Pete Hegseth to restore the military.

Case in point: On April 3, 2026, AFBCMR issued a “finding” that flatly denied any relief whatsoever to Capt. Monteleone. Given the overwhelming mountain of evidence reviewed by J.M. Phelps and provided to the Board, one can only conclude that the Board continues to undermine the efforts of President Trump and his appointees within the Department of War. This bureaucratic obstruction appears aimed at continuing the denial of mandated relief to those who suffered under the military’s unlawfully enforced COVID-19 shot mandate, which was rescinded in January 2023.

Mr. Richard Anderson, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserves, representing the AFBCMR and operating under the full delegated authority of the Secretary of the Air Force, stated that when it comes to Capt. Monteleone’s case, “the [AFBCMR] determined there was insufficient evidence of error or injustice. Accordingly, your application is denied.”

Sadly, for the author of this article, Mr. Anderson’s statement brings to mind the idiom, “If I had a dollar for every time I heard that.”

The Board’s stated reasoning behind this decision was that, although the entire mandate was ruled unlawful, the guidance from Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness, Anthony Tata, to the branch BCMRs did not specifically state that all [emphasis mine] service members harmed by the entire COVID-19 mandate must be granted relief. Instead, in their interpretation [emphasis mine], his guidance indicates that only those punished for solely refusing the order to take the shot itself were eligible for remediation under the guidance.

This interpretation significantly reduces the amount of service members who, in the Board’s eyes, “suffered harm” under the “unlawful as implemented” COVID-19 shot mandate. It ignores the punitive actions taken against those who submitted a Religious Accommodation Request (RAR) and disregards the coercive measures employed to compel them to receive the shot prior to the denial of their RAR.

According to the Board, the only punishments that count for relief are those received after a service member’s RAR was denied, and only after service members received the final order to take the so-called vaccine.

Therefore, based upon the AFBCMR’s interpretation of the order by the Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness [USW(P&R)], Capt. Monteleone did not suffer an error or injustice during unlawful COVID-19 vaccine mandate and does not fall under the USW(P&R) guidance addressing relief for those negatively impacted by the mandate.

Additionally, the AFBCMR’s interpretation of the USW(P&R) guidance specifically ignored the fact—and also failed to address in their denial statement—that the ordered weekly “screening testing” of only unvaccinated servicemembers was part of then-Department of Defense’s COVID-19 shot mandate, as clearly stated in the original order from October 2021: “Once the applicable mandatory vaccination date has passed, COVID-19 screening testing as described in Attachment 7 is required at least weekly for Service members who are not fully vaccinated, including those who have an exemption request under review, or who are exempted from COVID-19 vaccination and are entering a DOD facility.”

When President Trump declared by Executive Order that the military’s entire COVID-19 shot mandate was “unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members,” this also included —contrary to the Board’s current interpretation—the portion of the mandate that ordered all service members who refused the shot for any reason to undergo weekly screening testing with an EUA, or emergency use, only COVID-19 test. This crucial fact must not be overlooked by War Secretary Hegseth and Undersecretary (P&R) Tata.

Yet, this fact is being overlooked. According to the reasoning outlined by the AFBCMR, Capt. Monteleone was punished for raising concerns and submitting a protected whistleblower complaint to his Wing Commander, the Wing Inspector General, and the DOD Inspector General regarding the mandatory weekly screening tests conducted solely on unvaccinated service members using an EUA-only COVID-19 test. Essentially, he does not fall under the current USW(P&R) guidance related to the unlawful mandate and is not eligible for relief. How is this possible?

Furthermore, the AFBCMR stated that the necessary remediations required to return Capt. Monteleone to pre mandate status were “outside of the Board’s authority to provide.”

This raises the question: Does the Air Force BCMR have the broad authority to rectify the damage suffered by those impacted by the shot? According to Undersecretary Tata, yes. But according to the Board, no. Does this indicate another attempt by the Board to undermine the intentions of President Trump and War Secretary Hegseth to reinstate service members?

Even if the Board had not denied Capt. Monteleone’s case, it would have denied him the appropriate and necessary remediations to fix the extensive damage to his career during the mandate. In numerous cases comparable to that of Capt. Monteleone, the BCMR is unwilling to provide the requisite justice.

This is yet another instance where the direct intervention of DOW leadership is required to ensure that their guidance and intentions are effectively carried out, allowing for Capt. Monteleone’s case to be resolved appropriately and satisfactorily.

Emphasizing that his views are his own and do not reflect those of the Department of War or the Department of the Air Force, Capt. Monteleone spoke to The Gateway Pundit. “My final hope is to appeal directly to Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata, who authored the guidance directing the remediation of all service members harmed by the unlawful as implemented DOD COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” he admitted.

Once his case reaches the DOW level leadership, he is optimistic that his “significant and repeat struggle to get justice will shine a spotlight on the current modus operandi of the Air Force BCMR when it comes to implementing DOW guidance on the unlawful DOD COVID-19 vaccine mandate.”

He is also hopeful that his story will drive reform in the Air Force’s COVID-19 remediation efforts, as many personnel from both the uniformed Air Force and the civilian appointees from the previous Biden Administration—who endorsed and enforced the illegal mandate—remain very antagonistic towards those who opposed the shot mandate. This hostility affects their ability to implement the current DOW guidance on remedying the harm caused by the mandate in an objective and impartial manner.

And according to Capt. Monteleone, “There are many more service members going through the same hostile and broken process who have no voice when their cases are similarly denied.”

 

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