Colonel Dillon Patterson in Arkansas has resigned from his role as commander of the 188th Wing of Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas over religious beliefs.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Ark.) sent the letter of resignation to President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Loyd Austin on January second and blamed Biden’s pro-abort policy for Patterson’s resignation.
“Unfortunately, Col. Patterson was forced to personally choose between either continuing his command or adhering to his sincerely held religious beliefs against abortion. Because he adhered first to his faith instead of overtly political mandates, he voluntarily resigned his command,” Sanders wrote to Biden, according to Arkansas local news channel 5.
Sanders indicated that Patterson’s resignation came “after the U.S. Department of Defense issued a policy that ‘had disregarded his service and abandoned his most fundamental constitutional rights in favor of more fashionable political and social experiments,’”
In the letter obtained by the Daily Caller, Sanders also wrote:
Abortion is itself a barbaric practice. But it is apparently not enough for this administration that abortion be available in some states and regulated in others. Thus, the Defense Department must now apparently sacrifice lifelong personnel’s leadership in the name of military readiness—a laughable paradox if it were not so deeply offensive and damaging.
Defense Secretary Austin issued a new policy for the Pentagon that would allow service members to travel out of state to obtain abortions. The policy states that the travel expenses of the service member would be reimbursed. The policy, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, was passed by the House on December 14, 2023, even after Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) rejected the Pentagon’s policy.
The decision was against Patterson’s religious beliefs and views on the sanctity of life, hence his resignation as commander. He didn’t want to be “forced to approve abortion leave,” as News 5 noted.
Brigadier General Wes Nichols will take over for Patterson as the commander of the 188th wing until a permanent replacement is found but the Arkansas National Guard spoke highly of Patterson’s service.
“He has led the wing and Ebbing Air National Guard Base with integrity, selfless service, and excellence through a significant transition period as the base readies to host the F-35 Foreign Military Sales mission and Singapore’s squadron of F-16s,” the Arkansas National Guard said according to News 5.
Patterson will continue to serve as a member of the National Guard, but will not serve as a commander who is forced to give his approval to people doing something blatantly against his deeply held religious beliefs and convictions.
