Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum Wednesday directing the Pentagon to expedite the reinstatement of service members who were discharged for refusing the Covid-19 vaccine during the Biden Administration. This action follows President Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order, which undid the Biden Covid vaccine mandates.
“We’re doing everything we can, as quickly as we can, to reinstate those who were affected by that policy,” Hegseth said.
The Department of Defense’s now has initiated outreach efforts to contact the more than 8,700 former service members affected by the Biden mandate. Defense has sent letters of apology, emails, phone calls, and is providing information through official websites and social media channels to try to reach the men and women who were separated from service and inform them about how they can come back at their previous rank, and the along with the possibility of getting back pay and benefits they would have earned had they been retained in the military.
Under the new policy, those who were involuntarily separated solely due to vaccine refusal are eligible for reinstatement and back pay. The back pay will be calculated based on what the service member would have received had they not been discharged, minus any income or benefits they received during their time away from the military.
“It hasn’t been perfect, and we know that,” Hegseth said. “We’re having an ongoing conversation with you to get it right. [We’re] working with the White House as well. We want anyone impacted by that vaccine mandate back into the military — people of conscience, warriors of conscience — back in our formations.”
The Army has reenlisted at least two dozen soldiers who were discharged for refusing the shot. Other branches, including the Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy, have initiated outreach to the men and women they discharged during Biden.
“The guidance also will facilitate the removal of adverse actions on service members solely for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, including discharge upgrades and less than fully honorable discharges for individuals separated from refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine,” Hegseth said. “We’re trying to scrub all that, clean all that up.”
In July 2021, vaccination mandates were issued for federal employees, federal contractors, and military service members.
Despite growing evidence suggesting vaccinated individuals could still transmit Covid-19, these mandates continued to be enforced, significantly affecting the American workforce.
Despite eventual rescission of the mandates due to constitutional, statutory, financial, and other harms inflicted upon citizens, service members, and businesses, the military mandate remained.
An estimated 1.4 million active-duty and reserve service members were subject to the mandate, including members of the National Guard.