Fact-checking the false but viral story about F-22 pilots resigning after a vaccination text from the secretary of defense
By Daniel Dale, CNN
False claims went viral on Friday about Air Force pilots and the Pentagon's Covid-19 vaccine mandate for members of the military.
In a video monologue that has been viewed more than 1.1 million times on Twitter, a bodybuilder named Justin Y. O'Donnell claimed that "my dad just let me know" that the secretary of defense had sent a nighttime text message to all active members of the military demanding that they get a Covid-19 vaccination by 10 a.m. the next day or face a court martial.
After receiving this text, O'Donnell claimed, "Twelve F-22 pilots, the most highly trained pilots in the world, walked off the job." He added that "16 crew members for B-52 bombers walked off the job."
Facts First: The viral story is thoroughly false. In fact, it originated on a misinformation website that publishes ridiculous fiction written to read like actual news. There was no mass text message from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin about Covid-19 vaccinations; a Defense Department spokesman, Charlie Dietz, told CNN on Friday that Austin has "never sent any kind of force-wide text message" about anything. In addition, the Air Force has set a November 2 deadline for active duty personnel to be fully vaccinated, so it would not make sense for pilots to be told now that they would be punished if they did not get vaccinated within hours. Both Dietz and an Air Force spokesperson told CNN on Friday that they did not know of any walk-off by Air Force pilots. And spokespeople for both military bases where the misinformation website claimed the resignations occurred told Reuters that no such thing had happened.
"To date, no pilots from the 1st Fighter Wing have resigned their commission due to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate," said a spokesperson for Joint Base Langley-Eustis, according to Reuters, while a spokesperson for Barksdale Air Force Base called the viral story "misinformation" and "completely false," Reuters reported.
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Posted By: Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Saturday, September 11th 2021 at 1:50PM
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