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The Defense Department has instructed the services to invite back into uniform those personnel forced out or who separated voluntarily because they refused the COVID-19 vaccine.
Those returning will come back at the same rank they held upon separation, according to a Feb. 14 Pentagon announcement. Those involuntarily separated will also be eligible for backpay.
The directive carries out a Jan. 27 executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
Enlisted personnel returning must accept a two-year commitment and meet current military retention standards. Officers would have to get recommissioned.
Nearly 8,000 active, National Guard and Reserve members were involuntarily separated from the military for refusing the vaccine, which became mandatory in August 2021, according to the announcement. Others left voluntarily to avoid the vaccine mandate.
DoD rescinded the vaccine order Jan. 10, 2023, under a directive in the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
The services sent out notices in 2023 to all those discharged over the vaccine, advising them they could return to the military, but only 113 reenlisted. The 2023 invitation to return, however, did not include backpay.
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 services, details the actions required.
A large part of that effort involves reviewing records to identify service members who were involuntarily separated or voluntarily left to avoid vaccination and then inviting them back into service.
"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.
The Board for Correction of Military/Naval Records will correct the military records of service members who separated involuntarily, the announcement said.
For those who voluntarily left the service or allowed their service to lapse due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the 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.
Service members who voluntarily separated will not receive back pay, bonuses or other compensation.
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 in the announcement.
"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."
— By John Goheen
