Mark Charles Bashaw, a former Army first lieutenant, was removed from service in June for refusing the vaccine, testing, and masking previously enforced by Defense Centers Public Health-Aberdeen, formerly known as Army Public Health Center.
Bashaw, who has obtained legal protection as a whistleblower, tells American Family News he is one of thousands of service members retaliated against and discharged from the military for doing so. For him, that punishment was a criminal offense and so he argues the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and the Manual for Courts-Martial, allow him to report an offense subject to trial by court-martial.
Thus, on November 24, Bashaw sent a notarized “Affidavit of Truth” with claims of UCMJ violations to his former commanding general, Maj. Gen. Robert L. Edmonson II, as well as his superior, Gen. Charles R. Hamiliton.
Bashaw outlined multiple violations of the UCMJ. One includes an Article 132 which is the “retaliation against a protected communicator,” he explains. He also included evidence for a violation of an Article 92, which is related to failure to obey a lawful order or regulation.
For Bashaw, his commanding general failed to ensure FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines were available for service members.
"This he couldn’t do because they didn’t exist,” he says, referring to the emergency use authorization of the shot.
Interestingly, Bashaw had already come forward as a whistleblower to disclose that the military was not providing COVID-19 vaccines with full FDA approval and licensure.
Reached for comment in response to Bashaw's legal filing, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, as well as Army Materiel Command said that “as a matter of policy, we do not discuss ongoing personnel matters. We do take all allegations seriously and will review the complaint.”
Despite their silence at this time, Bashaw hopes the criminal complaint he filed will ultimately result in an investigation and/or UCMJ charges against Edmondson.
Bashaw insists he is not the only military officer who “tried to do things the right way.”
Fellow military whistleblower and active-duty Navy Medical Service Corps officer Lt. Ted Macie recently released a video, which is now available on X. When comparing 2022 to a five-year average, he disclosed a 36 percent increase in hypertensive disease, 69 percent in ischemic heart, 62 percent in pulmonary heart disease, 973 percent in heart failure, 63 percent in other forms of heart disease, and 152 percent increase in cardiomyopathy in active-duty fixed-wing and helicopter pilots.
“Like me, [Macie] went through his chain of command with hard, concrete facts about the dangers of the shots as he was supposed to do," Bashaw says. "And they ignored him and now he’s gone public.”
Macie’s command subsequently asked him to delete the video. Despite complying with this request, his chain of command removed his access to the Navy’s computer network as if he posed an insider threat.
While the military attempts to silence Macie, Bashaw commends his courage and willingness to protect those who serve in the military.
“I think that those of us who continue to speak up can boost the morale of some soldiers who have remained quiet for the past few years,” Bashaw shares. “Senior leadership [of the military] needs to be put on notice, because they are not above the law.”
While there are pending lawsuits against the Secretary of Defense and the Department of Defense over the implementation of the shots, Bashaw does not regret going after a commander general whom he says failed to protect subordinates like him "not only the shot, but also tyranny.”
