By Elizabeth Elkind
EXCLUSIVE: A South Dakota National Guard recruit is denied the opportunity to have his circle of family attend his enlistment rite because of military policies replaced by COVID-19, a Republican lawmaker charged Friday.
Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S. D. , sent a letter Friday urging the head of the U. S. Military Entry Processing Command, which oversees new recruits entering through service academies or ROTC systems, to lift COVID-related restrictions on visitors who want to enlist. Ceremonies
“I recently spoke with a South Dakota voter who is denied the opportunity for her son to raise his right hand and take the oath of enlistment to ‘support and protect the U. S. Constitution. ‘Guard due to U. S. Military Entry Processing Command guest policyU. S. Disease Control and Drug Administration (MEPS) related to COVID-19. ” Johnson wrote to Colonel Megan B. Stallings, commander of USMEPCOM.
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A Republican lawmaker said his state’s National Guard unfairly prevents family circle members from attending enlistment ceremonies because of replaced COVID policies. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, Folder)
“During COVID-19, families were prohibited from attending military personnel swearing-in ceremonies,” he wrote. The National Guard recruited the people who attended the enlistment ceremonies. “
It added: “This restrictive policy did not exist prior to the pandemic, and with the National Emergency being brought to an absolute end by the Commander-in-Chief in April 2023, the previous MEPS policy of welcoming all visitors will be reinstated. ” .
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Documents submitted to Fox News Digital imply that MEPS introduced a pilot program to allow up to two visitors for enrollment oath ceremonies in May of this year, after President Biden ended the federal emergency similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson said a National Guard recruit in his state was unfairly denied the right to have visitors at his enlistment swearing-in ceremony. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Guests had been banned from attending such events since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
While MEPS handles recruitment across all branches of the armed forces and National Guard, a source told Fox News Digital that the pilot program lately absolutely excludes the latter group, leaving recruits in a post-pandemic vacuum.
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Johnson did not call for rapid recruitment in his letter, but warned that existing restrictions will not alleviate the military’s severe personnel shortage.
The Colorado National Guard lands its CH-47 Chinook helicopters at Boulder Municipal Airport and rescuers board spaces west of Boulder. (Photo by Kathryn Scott Osler/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
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“At a time when the armed forces are facing an unprecedented recruitment problem, I advise you to welcome families in this sacred service, not to hinder it,” he wrote. “I urge you to return without delay to the policy of pre-attendance of COVID guests to all remedy plants in the call of our national defense and sense not out of the ordinary. “
Fox News Digital has reached out to the South Dakota National Guard and the USMEPCOM for comment.
Elizabeth Elkind is a political reporter for Fox News Digital.