Forced Off a Sinking Ship
Flying for the Navy was all I’d ever envisioned myself doing. My path was set immediately out of college and I had no interest in doing anything besides flying. I would do a full career, hopefully become the Commanding Officer of a squadron, and would earn the coveted military pension that came with 20 years of service. I loved flying, the camaraderie in the ready room, the travel... everything was progressing as it should, and I was performing at a high level in my community.
The train was derailed when the illegal (not) vaccine mandate was imposed by the criminals who run the Department of Defense. I knew I would never, under any circumstances, comply with the order. But my wife and I knew refusing would cost me any chance of career progression, if there was even a career left when the dust settled. The Navy forced me and thousands of others into a decision between sacrificing our career or betraying our convictions. And all along, they had no legal (or medical) leg to stand on.
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The threats ranged from being court-martialed to paying back the cost of flight school. They benched me from flying for two years, freezing my orders and preventing me from joining my squadron. After the mandate was lifted, they told me I had to extend my contract an additional two years in order to compensate them for the time they had cost themselves. Once again, I refused, citing contract law and informing them that I had maintained full compliance with my contract (which they wrote, and which had a definite end date) from day one. I would not allow them to manipulate me into giving them a blank check on my time when they could not even point to a single instance where I refused a lawful order or was not in compliance with my contract.
Unfortunately, there is no accountability and no justice when the Navy is the offending party. Despite multiple JAGs and civilian counsel confirming the merits of my defense, they charged me with breach of contract and put me into debt collections for nearly $70,000. They denied me due process by skipping the requisite court hearing for such a charge, but again, nobody in the Navy actually cares about accountability when doing so might hinder one’s career progression. The message from my chain of command was clear: conform or be cast aside.
The final blow, upon refusing their legally immaterial offer, was punitive orders to a ship (which had no job for me) on other side of the country (when there are over 50 ships in San Diego, where I lived, that are under-manned and could use a random one year fill), without my family, to finish out the final year on contract. I am suing them in the court of federal claims to recover the money stolen, and will attack every legal avenue available to attempt to force the individuals complicit to pay for what they did. But…
I've already won.
Regardless of the outcome of the legal action. Seeing through the mirage of medical authority, and realizing that military leaders become flaccid indoor cats at the first hint of having to decide between doing what is right and their career progression, I felt the scales fall from my eyes. Through this new lens I questioned everything, including my financial paradigm. I view money and capital in a whole new light, where I value control, access, and guarantees more than hope, speculation, and risk. I focus on cash flow, not net worth. And I know that, though the Navy has no regard for contract law, the US Code will always enforce the rights in the contracts (life insurance) I use to safeguard my capital. It may cost me $70,000, a year away from my family, a pension, and a career I was once proud of, but I've already won.
Joining Brian and creating Remnant Finance has been such an obvious and natural transition that it could only be God’s plan. From the first day of refusing the unlawful order, I felt at peace knowing that my path would be made clear. Even though I had ever heard of IBC at the time, I knew that if I held to my convictions, I would surely prosper. Here we are, three years to the day since the mandate dropped, and I am exactly where I am supposed to be. It wasn't quite so easy as being able to see the forest for the trees when the Navy was lying and coercing and threatening, but they was forcing me into a life raft off the Titanic. Observing the wreckage that the U.S. military has become, I am grateful to be floating along in my little life raft, knowing that I passed the test.
Navy leadership violated their oaths of office and trampled on the rights they were sworn to uphold. But I am not a victim, and they must forever live with the knowledge that when confronted with pressure to betray their nation and preserve their careers, they bent the knee. Once you bend the knee, you can never get back up.
Meanwhile, I’m off and running.
