Since the past election, there have been an increasing number of what I call “state expressions of sovereignty.” Things such as multiple States passing resolutions declaring a second-amendment sanctuary, for example. In our federalism system (Federal, State & Local, The People) I see the States doing this to remind the federal creature (they created) to mind it’s place, declaring themselves not obliged to obey the ever more numerous and oppressive edicts of Fedzilla.

Now comes the Nebraska National Guard into the middle of all this, forced to capitulate to the proclamations of the federal military industrial complex, either take the vax or be discharged.

I think it’s time for another expression of State sovereignty.

The commander in chief of the Nebraska National Guard, army and air, is the Governor while the soldiers serve under title 32 USC. Only if activated by competent federal authorities will the Guard serve under title 10 USC federal authority, such as overseas deployments, the active guard, and so forth.

It is worth noting that this duel command structure between a state and a superior government is quite good. It has proven to be one of the most durable relationships there is to be found in government. December 13, 1636 the first militia regiments in North America were organized in Massachusetts. The guard and the federal military work fine together every day of the year around the world. 

But when the Guard is home, there is a State chain of command that is every bit as powerful as the federal chain of command, or at least that was the framers intention. I therefore believe the soldiers and airmen of the Nebraska National Guard should not be subject to compulsory Covid vaccination while under Title 32 status. I believe the exact boundary between the Title 32 state and the Title 10 federal authority needs a new survey drawn by the courts to see where one’s authority stops and the other begins.

Eventually, there will come a state who’ll take this matter through the District Courts of the United States. I’ll not hazard a guess which state may be best suited for this occasion, but I do know our Attorney General has been batting a thousand lately.  

The last couple of years have been tough on the Guard, yet our Nebraska soldiers and airmen continue to deploy globally and serve local communities and make us proud. Combat Readiness and recruiting and retention are the heart and the blood of a military unit. They are the two biggest challenges faced by any Army or Air National Guard commander.

And now we’re going to saddle them with this wrong-headed vax mandate. The soldiers and airmen of the Nebraska National Guard are in that category of young, healthy and fit human beings who have a far greater chance of being struck by lightning than dying of Covid.  

I believe the DoD vax mandate is detrimental to the moral, good order and discipline of the Nebraska National Guard, and is injurious to the combat readiness of it’s units. Nebraskans will not tolerate the federal leviathan mistreating the people we depend on when big emergencies happen in our State. They are Nebraskans, not groveling subordinate minions to the federal military.