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The Defense Department rescinded the mandate to take the COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 10, 2023.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.
That guidance, now in the hands of the military departments, details the efforts the service branches must take.
A large part of that effort involves records reviews: identifying service members who were involuntarily separated or voluntarily separated to avoid vaccination and then communicating with those service members to let them know they are invited back into service.
Service members involuntarily discharged, solely for their refusal to take the vaccine, will be contacted directly by their respective services, according to the guidance.
"The secretaries of the military departments will invite these service members to seek reinstatement by applying to have their records corrected to reflect continued service such that back pay, benefits, bonus payments, or other compensation, subject to required offsets, will be available," the guidance reads.
To inform the service members who were involuntarily discharged of the option to return to uniform, the military departments will make direct contact with them by written letter, email, if possible, and a telephone call.
The Board for Correction of Military/Naval Records will correct the military records of service members separated involuntarily.
For those who voluntarily left the service or allowed their service to lapse due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the military services will reach out through broad communications, including social media, website content, or newsletter, to let them know about the process if they are interested in returning to service.
That process includes, among other things, submitting a written statement attesting that they chose to leave the service or allowed their service to lapse rather than be vaccinated under the mandate.
Service members who voluntarily separated will not receive back pay, bonuses, or other compensation.
In both cases, whether service members were separated involuntarily or separated of their own will, rejoining the military will require them to accept a two-year commitment to continue military service and meet current military retention standards.
When Hegseth took his role at the Pentagon last month, he promised to restore America's warrior ethos, rebuild the military and reestablish deterrence.
Inviting service members back who refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine is firmly in line with those goals, he said.
"We need to do everything we can to recruit and retain a force that meets the highest necessary standards," Hegseth said. "This effort will help us reach that goal."
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For further information, follow U.S. Army Human Resources Command's updates at https://www.hrc.army.mil/.
