Earlier than the army imposed its 2021 COVID-19 shot requirement, Military Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brandon Budge had constructed an impeccable 18-year profession flying Black Hawk helicopters. His trajectory modified dramatically when he refused the COVID shot on precept—a stance that now threatens to finish his profession.
In Might, The Gateway Pundit wrote:
[CW3 Budge] was grounded for 18 months, unable to function a Black Hawk. Throughout this time, he was given a Common Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR), and as an act he considers reprisal, he was additionally pressured to undergo a Flying Analysis Board. Although the FEB exonerated him of any wrongdoing, his command nonetheless issued a GOMOR which finally resulted in a lack of promotion standing by a Particular Alternatives Overview Board. ‘This whole debacle has price my household almost $40,000 in authorized charges and almost $40,000 in misplaced pay on high of all of the emotional and psychological stress,’ he lamented.
In accordance with a subsequent report, Military Chief of Workers Gen. Randy George suggested CW3 Budge to file with the Board for Correction of Military Records (BCMR), promising to resolve the scenario. Regardless of this assurance and repeated appeals to Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth from journalist J.M. Phelps and different involved advocates, CW3 Budge faces retirement on October 6, 2025—the direct results of his stance in opposition to what the Protection Secretary himself has characterised as experimental and unlawful.
Why are CW3 Budge and his advocates being ignored? Rumors are starting to flow into that his earlier conduct and warranted actions taken in opposition to the shot through the COVID period may be the hidden purpose his two-decade army profession now hangs within the steadiness.
“Whilst they tried to destroy my livelihood and my household, I couldn’t afford to be fearful throughout this time,” CW3 Budge admitted to The Gateway Pundit. “I did all I might to face in opposition to the mandate and now I’m being held accountable for these actions that are forcing me out of the Military,” he lamented. “All of the whereas, people who carried out it illegally aren’t being held accountable.”
“No person can go judgment on a scenario like I’ve gone by till they’ve stood in my footwear,” he shared. “I used to be anticipated to place all the pieces apart, together with my very own well being and the well being of my household, whereas they used coercive techniques and isolation to aim to silence me and get me to abide by their illegal guidelines.”
CW3 Budge can solely recall “elevating [his] voice” as soon as on this course of. “Did I disobey an illegal order and push again? Sure,” he admitted. “For it, I’m referred to as unbecoming and unprofessional, [but] they wished me to remain silent and provides in, [and] that’s not my nature if you’re coming after me and my household,” he mentioned. “The place’s the identical degree of professionalism they anticipated from me in those that handled us like criminals?”
In accordance with retired U.S. Military Lt. Col. Darin Gaub, CW3 Budge is the one who was “nothing lower than assaulted,” whereas his perpetrators stroll scot-free. The Gateway Pundit additionally interviewed the previous UH-60 Black Hawk pilot and Battalion Commander who has identified CW3 Budge for a number of years.
CW3 Budge as soon as served below Gaub’s command, a time that additionally included two fight excursions. He described him as “a fighter” that may be “aggressive when he’s decided to do what is correct,” Gaub recalled. “However isn’t that the form of particular person we would like in our nation’s army—one which has the braveness to do what it takes to face in opposition to tyranny and illegal orders?”
“At a time when Military Aviation is affected by a extreme lack of expertise and expertise as results of [the tyrannical enforcement of the] COVID-19 shot,” Gaub asserted, “Budge is the final particular person you must need to do away with—an skilled Black Hawk upkeep take a look at pilot with years of fight expertise.” On the contrary, he argued, “It is advisable be bending over backwards to maintain folks like this, not bending over backwards to do away with them because of his opposition to a mandate that has now been acknowledged as unlawful.”
“You’ve taken Budge from a patriotic [warrant] officer serving within the army, attempting to defend his nation, and turned him right into a goal of the chain of command, threatening his livelihood and his household,” Gaub shared. “On high of that, you went on a revenge journey, put him by boards to attempt to take away his flight wings, restricted his skill to journey, and tried to maintain him from his household—and now individuals are involved about how he reacted?”
“[His command] backed him right into a nook, and now you’re questioning why he responded negatively to you if you’re the one who attacked him,” Gaub mentioned, noting “It positively wasn’t the opposite manner round as you have been the one implementing the jab in opposition to his lawful objections.”
“Should you’re going to carry somebody like Brandon Budge accountable for not reacting precisely such as you wished him to, significantly if you’re those coming after him with an unlawful mandate, then what precisely did you anticipate the end result to be?”
“Why would you maintain him accountable for the way an officer ought to act on this scenario and never maintain the folks accountable who pressured the unlawful mandate on him?” Gaub questioned. In his opinion, “It’s completely essential on this case and I’m certain in lots of others.”
“Brandon is only one instance of quite a few individuals who discovered themselves pushing again in opposition to their chain of command that was assaulting them with a probably dangerous and even lethal jab,” he supplied. “That’s the better difficulty right here.”
Budge is one among tens of hundreds of service members impacted by “the unlawful mandate,” Gaub famous. “From what I’ve witnessed,” Gaub mentioned, “I can’t consider a single particular person in that group of people that’s been correctly addressed by the chain of command as much as the Secretary of Protection.”
Can Protection Secretary Hegseth or Military Chief George intervene for Warrant Officer Budge whereas there’s nonetheless time? The reply could depend upon whether or not sufficient Individuals demand justice.
For these energetic on X, please contemplate supporting this marketing campaign:
@SecDef Hegseth, in case you really imagine the COVID shot was “illegal as carried out,” certainly you perceive why ‘We the Individuals’ are calling upon you to intervene for CW3 Brandon Budge. Whereas his stance in opposition to the COVID shot requirement could have been expressed in another way than… pic.twitter.com/PrsVCCCUhR
— J.M. Phelps (@JMPhelpsLC) August 28, 2025
