Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
8-2025
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4778-8854
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Casey Reason
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Colleen Ramos
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Matthew J. Basham
Abstract
The balance between government control and personal liberty is a growing concern in the modern world. Nowhere is this more evident than in discussions surrounding government policy in public health and individual health autonomy. The Covid-19 pandemic forced many institutions to change their standard operating procedures by adapting to rapidly changing health guidance instituted to protect public health. These changes highlighted the role of health autonomy and individuals’ rights to refuse medical treatments. The Department of Defense changed many aspects of how it operated during the pandemic, including the mandate of the Covid-19 vaccine for all service members. For various reasons, a population within the Department of Defense disagreed with the mandate, and many of the mechanisms the military used to enforce the mandates were viewed as heavy-handed by service members. This mandate was particularly tough on specific populations of long-term service members, as they had little recourse to refuse the policy. Upon enlistment or commission, all service members agree to an unlimited liability contract that removes all control of their health autonomy. The only options available to refuse the vaccine were submitting an exemption or outright refusing and facing administrative separation or punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This study focuses on the loss of health autonomy felt by long-term service members in the Army that happened due to the policy changes associated with the institution of the Covid-19 vaccine mandate and how those policies contributed to feelings of Institutional Betrayal. The qualitative phenomenological study will focus on semi-structured interviews of eight long-term service members in the United States Army who showed signs of institutional betrayal due to the enforcement of the health mandate.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
DeHaven, Aaron G., "Institutional Betrayal and Military Vaccine Mandates: An Inquiry into Loss of Health Autonomy concerning Unlimited Liability Contractual Employment in the Covid-19 Era" (2025). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 931.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/931