An Air Force officer continues to battle one of the most egregious cases of vindictiveness and intolerance stemming from the military’s 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate, which was rescinded in January 2023 and deemed “unlawful as implemented” across all military departments in May 2025.
Following up on a story from September 2025, The Gateway Pundit spoke to Captain Anthony Monteleone to get an update on his case at the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR).
On July 8, 2025, as directed by the Department of War, Capt. Monteleone submitted his packet to the AFBCMR to correct the harms from the unlawful mandate in collaboration with his attorney, Jeffrey Addicott, Director of the Warrior Defense Project, and Mike Rose, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services (STARRS).
Two months later, on September 03, 2025, the AFBCMR denied his application, stating that his request “falls outside the jurisdiction of the AFBCMR,” and then reversed itself and accepted his case due to the directives from President Donald Trump and War Department leadership.
However, a grueling nine months after he submitted his package, and despite Congressional Representatives and multiple high-ranking Air Force officials reaching out to the AFBCMR on several occasions on behalf of Capt. Monteleone to stress the immediate need for relief in his case, the Board continues to delay the processing of his package.
As reported multiple times by The Gateway Pundit, numerous service members claim that the BCMR process is largely ineffective and that the Board’s willingness to engage amounts to little more than a superficial effort.
In short, despite the explicit directives from President Trump, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata, and the Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink, Capt. Monteleone continues to have active derogatory paperwork in his personnel file. He is still experiencing significant and ongoing damage to his career due to the unlawful COVID-19 shot mandate, which is solely attributed to the prolonged time it is taking for the Board to review his case.
Hellbound and Down 