An Army lieutenant who refused to telework, provide a negative test, or wear a mask was convicted by a special court-martial of violating orders.
Mark Bradshaw (photo), an Air Force sergeant who became an Army officer, is a jerk. He was a company commander, and the soldiers under him had no choice about being exposed to him. He put their health, and maybe lives, at risk.
But the judge declined to impose any punishment. However, he’ll have the equivalent of a misdemeanor on his record, which could force him out of the military or bar him from future promotion, so he’s not getting off scot-free (and shouldn’t).
In the military, you follow orders, period. But the services have treaded lightly with defiant anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers, in most cases just firing them (i.e., discharging them from service), without imposing criminal penalties.
Bradshaw, an entomologist, worked at Aberdeen Proving Ground‘s health center. Read story here. He’s the first officer of any service to be court-martialed and convicted for that. He escaped punishment, too, but probably threw his military career away.
People who do things like that obviously have strong beliefs. Trouble is, what if they’re wrong?