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3 yrs ago on June 10, 2021, I assumed battalion command fully knowing I'd be fired soon after. I was relieved of command Oct 28, 2021 for not complying with the covid shot mandate implemented in Aug 2021. The first 10 days of June 2021 were the hardest of my 19+ years in the Army. Even harder than the "10 toughest days in the Army" (Air Assault School 😎🤣). I arrived at Fort Campbell, KY on June 1 juggling a variety of emotions - excitement & nerves for command mixed with the sickening feeling that I'd soon endure the ignominy of being relieved of command & losing my career. There was no way I was going to take the covid shot & didn't want to order others to take it against their wishes. I didn't personally trust the shot & beyond that, I had assumed since Day 1 we were being lied to in some way with the covid narrative (though I didn't necessarily know how back then) and I always assumed it was an op. (I've been distrustful of the govt a very long time, which is difficult as an Army officer). There was no way I was going to go along with something I believed was ultimately intended to be destructive, even if it was difficult to exactly articulate how/why I thought that at that relatively early stage to others who would have found that idea preposterous. During those 10 days prior to taking command, I couldn't sleep. I wasn't even sure taking command was the right thing to do. I considered approaching the division commander (then Major General J.P. McGee) and telling him "Sir, I can't take command & it's better if I don't. You don't even want me in command. I'm clearly "not on the team" & it will be less disruptive to you, me, and most importantly the battalion if I don't take command just to be fired shortly thereafter." I decided against that though. I told myself "No, I'm not going to back down. I'm not the one wrong here. I'll make them fire a battalion commander." Then I tried to view it as the moral challenge it was. It was incredibly difficult. Perhaps it sounds arrogant (so be it), but to steel myself psychologically, I had to often remind myself that I was in the right even if that meant that virtually everyone around me (particularly at my peer level & above) was in the wrong. I don't care how that sounds. It is what it is. I've said many times that it's clear our senior military leaders obviously can't recognize the true strategic threats since they all went along with the covid op. I had to accept that in the grand scheme my entire command, which should have lasted 24 months but only lasted 4, would be reduced down to my decision on the covid jab. No one would care about the readiness levels of my battalion, my tactical acumen, the ways in which I adjudicated military justice, or any other way in which commanders are typically measured. I look back on that period from June - Oct 2021 as the defining period of my entire military career, to include my time at West Point. I've never tried to paint myself up as something I'm not. I've never said I was a great officer who always got everything right. But I do think I was a reasonably good officer who had a successful career (well, except for that whole "getting fired" part). I do take my oath to the Constitution seriously. I do love my country & care for my countrymen. And I do believe in doing the right thing because it's the right thing, consequences be damned. If you actually read this whole thing, let me know below 👇🤣