Forced Retirement Looms for Air Force General Who Pushed Back on COVID-19 Mandates

An Air Force general with 31 years of service is still hoping his mandatory retirement will be overturned.

But the Air Force offers him little hope.

“The decision to deny Brigadier General Christopher Sage’s Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records request for appeal has been reviewed by all senior leaders within the Department of the Air Force,” an Air Force spokesperson wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.

“General Sage will retire on December 31, 2025.”

Sage’s attorney, Davis Younts, alleged that Sage was targeted because of how he navigated the COVID-19 policies as commander of the 332 Air Expeditionary Wing in Jordan.

Sage is fighting for his second star, and to set a precedent for others who have pushed back on the Biden administration’s COVID-19 mandates.

“They were treated [poorly] because of their views,” Sage told The Epoch Times.

He said COVID-19 shaped how he and his staff handled day-to-day operations. But his main focus was on the unit’s missions.

When he took command in July 2020, he was concerned about how personnel who tested positive were segregated.

“They had the tent inside of a barbed wire enclosure. [I said], ‘Hey guys, these airmen are sick. They’re not prisoners,’” Sage said.

He also didn’t require mask-wearing while working outdoors.

Sage said his research convinced him that COVID-19 policies and the vaccine were ineffective, and possibly harmful.

“The medical personnel were trying to implement CDC recommendations that were designed for the United States of America, not for the Middle East … where we were isolated from the rest of society,” Sage said.

Some under his command were unhappy, and a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer told him that he had entered dangerous political territory.

“In his mind, I was questioning his religion,” Sage said.

Younts, Sage’s attorney, said progressive policies under the Biden administration made minor complaints possible career-ending issues.

“It’s become, ‘Well, did he make someone sad?’ If he made someone sad, that’s probably going to result in a substantiated IG [Inspector General] finding,” Younts told The Epoch Times.

In 2021, the JAG officer accused Sage of “fraud, waste, and abuse.”

Sage was cleared of the charges. However, a subsequent investigation found his COVID-19 policies endangered personnel and created a hostile work environment.

In October 2021, before the first investigation, Sage had been recommended for a second star. In March 2024, that recommendation was rescinded. Under Air Force regulations, an officer can hold the rank of brigadier general for five years. If he is not promoted, his Air Force career ends.

Sage took his case to the Air Force’s Board for Correction of Military Records. A majority of the Board recommended that the IG findings be overturned and Sage be granted another chance for promotion.

“After reviewing all Exhibits, the majority of the Board concludes the applicant is the victim of an injustice,” the Board’s report reads.

However, in what Younts describes as an unprecedented move, Richard L. Anderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, overruled the Board.

“After careful consideration, I conclude there was insufficient evidence of an error or injustice,” Anderson wrote in a Nov. 10 letter to Sage.

Younts said the president has the authority to enforce the Board’s recommendation. He said this would help “literally thousands” of former and current members of the military. He said that once Sage is retired, his options decrease.

“For every Chris Sage there are dozens and dozens and dozens of junior enlisted people who are in the same situation,” Younts said.

“No one’s going to hear their names, and they don’t have the resources to hire attorneys and try and fight this, and that’s why it matters.”

The White House and the Department of War did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times by publication time.