U.S. Air Force Maj. Brennan Schilperoort, a grounded C-130 pilot who faced financial penalties and discrimination for several years over his claim to a religious exemption from taking mandated flu shots, has finally achieved a measure of justice in his lengthy struggle against military leadership, as revealed in an exclusive report by this writer.
According to a Sept. 2 press release by Younts Law, which represents Schilperoort, “On August 13, 2025 – twenty months after Major Schilperoort’s initial Inspector General (IG)complaint, its denial, and subsequent appeals – the Air Force Inspector General overruled prior findings by subordinate Inspectors General. The IG substantiated Major Schilperoort’s complaint that his commander unlawfully issued a Letter of Reprimand and refused to process his December 2023 flu shot religious accommodation request.”
As Schilperoort’s legal counsel R. Davis Younts posted on X, the determination is a “huge victory for religious freedom in the military.”
Huge victory for religious freedom in the military! After years of discrimination, reprisal, withheld pay, and exclusion from the cockpit, USAF Major Brennan Schilperoort has been vindicated. The Air Force IG substantiated his complaints of unlawful reprimand & refusal to process… pic.twitter.com/OWgyDlzvm8
— R. Davis Younts (@DavisYounts) September 2, 2025
WorldNetDaily spoke to Maj. Schilperoort, who emphasized up-front that his views do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Defense or Department of the Air Force.
Schilperoort and his wife were “beyond surprised,” he said, at receiving the news and are grateful to the IG and Air Force Review Boards Agency director.
In fact, he told WND, it is his prayer that God uses this determination to “set a precedent,” one that has “huge implications for all the other service members the past many decades who were wronged by commands and their legal advisers who blocked their due-process and constitutional rights.”
Likewise, speaking to WND, his attorney R. Davis Younts held nothing back in his assessment of the case: “This vindication exposes a blatant case of religious discrimination driven by malicious compliance from low-level bureaucratic leaders who weaponized policies to target faith, compounded by flawed advice from Air Force JAGs that enabled these abuses.”
As Younts explained, “It’s a win for my client, but it also shines a light on the struggles of thousands of other service members who’ve been targeted for their beliefs, demanding urgent reforms – reforms that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Air Force Under Secretary Matt Lohmeier are championing to restore integrity and protect religious freedoms across the ranks.”
“The Air Force’s highest authorities finally admitted the Letter of Reprimand was baseless and that the religious accommodation request was mishandled – violations rooted in the malicious compliance of squadron-level bureaucrats and misguided JAG counsel that ignored clear regulations,” Younts pointed out.
“It took 20 months, multiple appeals and investigative journalism to force this review, highlighting how the system initially failed at every level due to low-level leaders’ malicious adherence to rules that punished sincere beliefs and JAGs’ poor guidance that prolonged the injustice,” said Younts. “As an attorney fighting these battles, I see this as a broader indictment of institutional bias, with implications for the many service members still enduring reprisals for standing by their faith.”
“Facing potential discharge after exemplary service,” Younts argued, “Ma. Schilperoort’s ordeal is emblematic of a larger crisis in military religious freedom, fueled by bureaucratic malicious compliance at the command level and bad JAG advice that turned accommodations into reprisals.”
Legally, he explained, the substantiations confirm unlawful actions that have harmed his client and “echo the experiences of countless others.” For this reason, “The secretary must act to restore justice, and I praise Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Under Secretary Matt Lohmeier for leading the charge against such discrimination throughout the department.”
“We need accountability now,” added Younts, while also commending Hegseth and Lohmeier for their “bold efforts to enforce real protections.” From a legal perspective, he said, Schilperoort’s case “reveals deep flaws in how commands process exemptions, affecting not just Major Schilperoort but a multitude of troops facing similar persecution amid eroding religious rights in the military.” However, he reemphasized that he is thankful for leaders like Hegseth and Lohmeier who are “stepping up to dismantle these systemic barriers.”
Maj. Brennan Schilperoort “strongly urges the current administration that these sorts of cases need to be examined at the level of the Joint Chiefs of the service branches and by their secretaries, thorough investigations directed, and appropriate punitive accountability applied fairly and based on facts across the board, regardless of rank or what position someone holds or has held.”
For the C-130 military transport pilot, “It’s past [the] time that all the weight of accountability falls downhill, while those at the top who are most responsible get to walk away scot-free.” Rather, insists Schilperoort, “This nation is demanding accountability and fair and equal treatment of the law for all, where not a one is ‘more equal’ than others.”
