DOD Prepares Invitation to Bring Back Troops Separated for Refusing COVID Vaccine

DOD Prepares Invitation to Bring Back Troops Separated for Refusing COVID Vaccine​

Over the course of 500 days, beginning in 2021, nearly 8,000 active duty and reserve service members were involuntarily separated from service for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Many others left voluntarily to avoid the vaccine mandate.

Now, the Defense Department plans to invite those service members back into uniform at the same rank they held when they separated.

President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27, 2025, regarding reinstating service members discharged under the department's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

As part of the executive order, active duty and reserve service members who were discharged solely for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine may request reinstatement to their former rank.

The Defense Department rescinded the mandate to take the COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 10, 2023.

Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness to provide guidance to the military departments on how to proceed.

"This guidance will provide procedures to rapidly reinstate individuals who were involuntarily discharged or voluntarily left to avoid vaccination," Hegseth wrote.

Nithavela said:

That's half a decade ago. One would hope that those people found a new job.

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Perhaps they would want to return to the military career they wanted to never leave.

Nithavela said:

Also, the order wasn't rescinded because it was wrong in the first place, but because it was no longer deemed neccessary in the 2023 circumstances.

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That isn't how it works. They were involuntarily discharged - they lost rank and benefits. That action has been rescinded and they are being restored to the position they should have never been forced out of.

Nithavela said:

As far as I know, the US army inflicts a large amount of compulsory vaccines on their service members, as well as other medical interventions that aren't strictly neccessary, like a prophilactic antibiotic.

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Army announces implementation of mandatory vaccines for Soldiers​

Now read down:

The Army began implementing the Secretary of Defense’s order on August 24, following DoD and White House guidance. Before then, vaccines had been optional.

Soldiers have the ability to request an exemption from receiving the vaccine, if they have a legitimate medical, religious or administrative reason.

Instead they were involuntarily discharged with complete loss of rank, pay and benefits


Check the law before Biden:


For religious exemptions, each Service has a slightly different policy. The Army is governed by AR 600-20, and the process is explained more at this link. For the Navy and Marine Corps, exemptions are granted on a case-by-case basis by the Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. For the Air Force, permanent exemptions for religious reasons are not granted; however the MAJCOM Commander can grant temporary exemptions. For the Coast Guard, CG-122 is the designated approval and revocation authority for religious immunization exemptions. If a Servicemember is granted an exemption, he/she will be counseled by a doctor about the possible dangers and by his/her Commander about possible restrictions in assignments/deployments.

This is from the White House:

Section 1. Purpose and Policy. On August 24, 2021, the Secretary of Defense mandated that all service members receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The Secretary of Defense later rescinded the mandate on January 10, 2023. The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members. Further, the military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received. Federal Government redress of any wrongful dismissals is overdue.

(a) make reinstatement available to all members of the military (active and reserve) who were discharged solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and who request to be reinstated;

(b) enable those service members reinstated under this section to revert to their former rank and receive full back pay, benefits, bonus payments, or compensation; and

(c) allow any service members who provide a written and sworn attestation that they voluntarily left the service or allowed their service to lapse according to appropriate procedures, rather than be vaccinated under the vaccine mandate, to return to service with no impact on their service status, rank, or pay.

Fantine said:

The president and Secretary of "War" who want to take away Astronaut/Navy Captain/Senator/Patriot Mark Kelly's rank and pension for saying that military members could refuse to follow illegal orders...

And at the same time they wanted to readmit military members who, whether they had "white coat syndrome" or listened to anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists, refused an "order" to take sensible, reasonable health precautions to protect themselves and their colleagues. Imagine how dangerous Afghanistan would have been if an entire unit was downed with COVID simultaneously.

Fortunately, the courts have sided with the patriot against those launching an illegal war.

As far as the squeamish, health-neglecting, conspiracy-following military members go, do we really need to reach so far down into the demographic pool to take them back?

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I admit - I needed help to respond politely not with the same level of hatred I see here - so Claude said it for me.

I think you're mixing together two very different issues.

First, whether someone should obey lawful orders in the military has always mattered. But so has the principle that illegal orders should not be followed. That’s not radical — it’s actually part of military ethics and tradition. I don’t think most Republicans truly want to punish someone simply for acknowledging that distinction, especially someone like Mark Kelly who served honorably.

At the same time, many conservatives saw the COVID vaccine mandate differently than you do. They weren’t necessarily “anti-science” or conspiracy-minded. Some objected because the vaccines were developed quickly, others because they believed natural immunity mattered, and others because they felt the government was applying a one-size-fits-all mandate without enough room for individual medical judgment.

A lot of Republicans also believed it was unfair to discharge trained service members during a recruiting crisis, especially after it became clear the vaccines reduced severe illness more effectively than transmission itself. From that perspective, reinstating those troops wasn’t rewarding disobedience — it was correcting what they viewed as an overly rigid policy.

You can disagree with that without assuming everyone involved was ignorant or reckless.

Honestly, this whole debate shows how much trust broke down during COVID. People stopped assuming the other side was acting in good faith. That fracture is still echoing through politics, the military, medicine — all of it.

MILITARY JUSTICE: Pete Hegseth Officially Reinstates Unvaccinated Master Aviator Kennie Kelly With Full Backpay After Biden Pentagon COVID Mandate Was Declared “Wrongfully and Unlawfully Applied” | VIDEO​

Welcome home Chief - carry on!

Another 20 year veteran sworn in today!