U.S. Air Force and Army Send Out Letters Pleading for Those Discharged for Refusing Covid Shot to Return
The vast majority of these letters will probably be ignored, and the struggle to recruit men and women willing to serve a woke bureaucracy with virtue signalling, social justice, eco-activist priorities will continue.
The mountain of covid policy regrets continues to grow.
Legal Insurrection chronicled the shameful discharge of military service members who refused to take the covid vaccine, despite ample evidence at the time the shot did not prevent the disease or stop the transmission of the novel coronavirus. Biden decided to virtue-signal with a vaccine mandate, and the Secretary of Defense was happy to oblige:
- Dec. 2021:Over 100 Marines Discharged for Refusing COVID Vaccine
- Dec. 2021: Marines Say Dismissal Over COVID Vaccine Refusal Is ‘Political Purge’
- Dec. 2021:Air Force Discharges 27 Service Members for Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine
- Feb. 2022: U.S. Army Beginning to Discharge Soldiers Who Refuse COVID-19 Vaccine
- May 2022:Four U.S. Air Force Academy Cadets May Not Graduate, Be Commissioned After Refusing COVID Vaccine
- July 2022:U.S. Army Boots over 60,000 National Guard and Reservists Who Remain Unvaccinated from Covid
All together, over 8,000 military service members were booted for not getting the covid vaccination. The mandate was rescinded by the Department of Defense in January of this year. Guess how many men and women returned to duty after their vaccine discharge.
Only 43 of the more than 8,000 US service members who were discharged from the military for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 have sought to rejoin eight months after the vaccine mandate was officially repealed, according to data provided by the military branches.
..[S]ince the repeal, only 19 soldiers have rejoined the Army, while 12 have returned to the Marines, according to service spokespeople. The numbers are even smaller for the Air Force and Navy, where only one and two have rejoined, respectively, the services said.
None of the military service branches are hitting their recruitment goals, which inspired a policy change to increase the recruitment ages.
Additionally, the Army recently sent out a letter pleading with discharged personnel to return.
Nearly a year after Congress forced the Pentagon to rescind its mandate requiring all troops to receive the coronavirus vaccine, 19 soldiers have rejoined the Army after they were discharged for refusing the shot, The Post has exclusively learned.
The news comes after the service sent a letter earlier this month inviting former soldiers who declined the jab to apply to rejoin as the military faces recruitment challenges.
Last week, the service notified vaccine-related discharged soldiers they could contact their local recruitment office for information on reapplying to the Army.
“As part of the overall COVID mandate rescission process mandated by Congress, the Army this month mailed the letters to approximately 1,900 individuals who had previously been separated,” Army spokesman Bryce Dubee told The Post.
The Air Force has also sent out its own plea to the covid-discharged.
A former Air Force service member who was separated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine received the letter Sunday addressed with the recipient’s name, according to a source familiar with the matter. The letter tells former airmen they can request to have their service records amended to show that they received honorable discharges and seek reentry into the service amidst the service’s failure to meet recruiting goals.
“Our records indicate you separated from military service as a result of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the Armed Forces, which was rescinded by the Secretary of Defense on January 10, 2023 and by the Secretary of the Air Force on January 23, 2023,” the letter reads. “Should you desire to request consideration of a correction to your personnel records, including records regarding the characterization of your discharge, you may submit a request to the Air Force Discharge Review Board or the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records.”
The letter then recommended Air Force veterans wishing to rejoin the active service to contact a local recruiter.
The Biden administration’s treatment of those serving our country in the military has been contemptible. I suspect the vast majority of these letters will be ignored, and the struggle to recruit men and women willing to serve a woke bureaucracy with virtue signalling, social justice, eco-activist priorities will continue.
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Comments
My response to the letter would fall under the category of ‘strenuous gymnastic activity requiring participation of a horse’.
Mine would be – if Air Force – to participate in reproductive gymnastics with a perambulating piece of perforated pastry.
Those that cooked up this mess should be fired (civilian) or busted in rank to lowest grade and given less than honorable status. Those already retired to be awarded pensions at lowest rank and less than honorable status. They can live off the DNC’s and CNN’s good graces.
Not entirely OT, but not off it, either…
It came as a huge surprise to the DOD that Gen Z just isn’t interested:
Gen Z workers say they should be hired for their ‘personality,’ not productivity: We ‘set the vibes’
Twitchy comments: “We admire the chutzpah it takes to say, with a straight face, you deserve a job because of the ‘vibe’ you bring to the workplace and not, you know, the value to bring to your employer with your productivity… it’s not a social hour. You are there to do a job, and do it well. Why do we have to explain this?”
They are as they’ve been made. They’ve been trained their whole lives to believe the vibe they think they bring *is* their contribution, and more than sufficient.
They aren’t entirely wrong in believing that this. The game they see is to plug yourself into a patronage scheme in place, and you don’t have to work hard or be good to do well enough. Your skill is indeed being personable to the people around you, as their way to get in on the gravy train.
The hard stuff to make things work is denied, displaced, and delegated to those deplorables, by the well-fit insiders. They don’t get it and don’t want to. As Dark Brandon said about farming — “How hard can it be?” Well, it’s hard, and you’re shielded from it.
If farming is hard, maybe those irredeemables aren’t so disposable. Maybe they even have a poit.
No sympathy for the military. Besides, why should the country’s largest group of terrorists – straight, white, Christian males – serve a government who hates them? Go ask all those sorry, America-hating Leftists you are trying placate to serve.
At the moment, I don’t think Jews would be all that welcome back, straight or not. I dealt with anti-Semitism when in the Navy; all of it from N3gr0 “superiors”.
Once blacks get in positions of power the incredible racism comes out on steroids
I experienced it a bit from a black office worker at a hospital I worked at and if I had not had a witness that I did not do or say anything, I believe I would have been feed to the dogs by my black supervisor, who I had worked with for years . His wife babysat my children for God sakes…
Cause black is always thicker than right
You
Could tell he really struggled to believe me over this lying piece of crap
Was a lesson I didn’t forget with my so called boss, and blacked in general
Not entirely true. I am not black (at least not as far as I know), and teach in a black-majority high school. When I was assaulted by a young hood, the school administration backed me.
Been there with a female in charge. She was a bully and a tyrant and because I wouldn’t treat her with the proper “respect” she demanded she went after me. Unfortunately for her I wouldn’t back down and when she made an unfounded allegation against me I demanded an investigation and full HR meeting with all the supervisors and company VP. Her 25yr reign of terror came to an abrupt halt and she is now unemployed. Even her union didn’t back her up as she was such a problem over the years they were glad to be rid of her.
Had a black female Captain as my CO in Korea 85. Being in a small 5-7 military personnel unit, it was well known she was sleeping all over the place to get ahead. Our war time location was across mountains. Had the NorKers come across the border, she would have gladly sacrificed us so she could get a promotion.
We planned for her to have an ‘accident’ or ‘accidental shooting’ in the back, then we’d head for the hills to fight the war from there.
I’m thinking a lot of Jews are now beginning to realize the blacks absolutely never liked them.
Jews were useful idiots to the blacks. See: Goodman and Schwerner.
The military is not required. When Chinkmaster Xi’s army comes to our shores, Pooypants Biden and the fawning Dems will welcome our conquerors with open arms and blowing kisses
Oh dear, looks like I’ve been shadowbanned for something.
It’s a dead giveaway when your own posting “appears” for you, but the “number of comments” field at the top of the article doesn’t match. Then you check from another browser without logging in, and… whaddaya know, you’re a nonperson.
(And then when you try to add a postscript like this and get told, “Sorry, replies to unapproved commends are not allowed.”)
Happened to me, maybe it’s temporary or a quirk, I don’t know…
Clearly I have ruffled some feathers
It’s happened to me a few times. I think it’s more of a server error more than a shadowban.
Easy way to tell if you’re on mandatory, automatic moderation (and yes, that’s happened to me for some of my comments) is if you check the URL in the URL bar (the place you type the URL) and if you’re in moderation it will include the words “moderation” and “hashtag” and some other nonsense. If you see that you’re in mandatory moderation.
The part I don’t appreciate is that (1) there is no indication other than looking at the URL bar or checking using a logged out browser that your in moderation and (2) at times it seems very arbitrary what ends up in moderation and what is allowed to go public immediately.
It’s not a server error, because the server straight out told me the posting was “unapproved.” But it wasn’t a personal shadowban because other things I posted came out. Apparently, something in the algorithm automatically submitted my post for moderation. It had to have been for containing more than one hyperlink, since I can’t find any other even remotely objectionable word anywhere in there.
It’s not a server error, because the server straight out told me the posting was “unapproved.”
If you are in mandatory moderation then the system lies to you and only pretends the post was published so that others can see it. When if fact it hasn’t been. And I’ve never had the comment system ever indicate that a comment I made was put in moderation and was being withheld from public view. Not. One. Time. Has it ever done that. Either for too many hyperlinks, naughty words, or anything else for that matter.
In any case, I’m guessing your comment was put into moderation because you had two hyperlinks and that you used markup language to display them. But I’m just guessing.
I’ve seen links and allegedly permitted tags make comments behave weirdly.
I am a retired USN vet retired in 1996.
there is no way I wud go back in unless I was 3 years of less of getting
my 20.
Agreed. Also, these service members shouldn’t have to “request” a damn thing, all of those things should be automatically included in writing.
They sh0uld also do the same for the o-4’s and o-5’s and upper enlisted who were bounced from the service during Obumbles 2nd term. most of those were the Officers and Enlisted that had actual combat experience and were either up for Promotion and closer to retirement. I had a couple of friends who were on the chopping block then and got full time appointments to the Air Guard or Reserve to finish out their 20. (Both had 4 or 5 years left to 20). Sadly most of those would not meet the age requirements to return to service, though those could be waived as well.
I’d tell them in no uncertain terms to go pound sand & not bother contacting me again, even in an emergency.
That’s what I’m hearing from active duty right now.
The DOD much like everyone else needs to be careful what they wish for. The rainbow brigade isn’t going to save them.
There are key elements missing from that offer. Such as an acknowledgement that they were wrong and an apology.
“Request”? Hahahaha. No. There will be no such “request”. You need to immediately and proactively correct ALL of the less than honorable discharges you improperly issued in the first place. That is beyond question and the fact that you have to be told so indicates the problem still exists.
Meanwhile, screw me once shame on you, screw me twice shame on me. The damage to your credibility is done. The troops found out you would sacrifice them for politics. Not on the battlefield, but for the sort of ridiculous national political crap that their oaths should haveiunsulated from.
So good luck getting public trust in a perception of your honor and integrity. Good luck getting the next fool to sign that contract. You’re going to need it.
P.S. Any idiot who re-ups BEFORE their discharge is corrected deserves everything they get.
Yeah, noticed that too
They want to re-instate the draft – and force white people to be the draftees – in order to show their repentance for white supremacy.
Much like the Seattle and Portland police departments falling short on their own recruiting….. ha ha.
Seattle and Portland know they’re not getting their old police back, but have to go through the motions. They plan to make Antifa the new police – making official the unofficial policy they have already adopted.
Minneapolis isn’t doing so hot either.
want them back? OK, record expunged, six figure signing bonus, and the right to refuse any vaccine, or other “medical” treatment
Also, if they were up for promotion then immediate advancement in rank and the assignment of their choice, including command positions. Before, someone starts with the “but what if there is already someone good in the position?” Between Obumbles purge in his 2nd term and the Covid purges there is about a 80% chance they are just going to be replacing a Woke Politician in a uniform not an actual leader.
I feel sorry for americans forced to serve in dementia joe’s woke military.
Whut? Under Joe Biden* we have the first female ‘Admiral’ don’t-cha know?
But s/he’s not REALLY an Admiral… more like a Modern Major General.
he’s neither
It is not fun or professional in any way. I’ve heard this first hand. Woke training, discipline based on skin color, promotion based on color or being female, superiors who have no idea what they are doing promoted for ticking a box. It is a total mess.
As I’ve posted other placed – this letter is doing NO such thing.
This is 100% purely an asscovering BS move by them frantically trying to not get sued.
‘Should you desire to request CONSIDERATION of a correction to your personnel records, including records regarding the characterization of your discharge, you may SUBMIT A REQUEST to the Air Force Discharge Review Board or the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records’
I’ve capitalized the relevant portion.
If you want CONSIDERATION you may REQUEST it.
There’s absolutely no actual indication the request will be granted, or even any illusions that the ‘consideration’ will be done quickly.
This is the same crap that they pulled with the vax religious exemptions, where NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON was actually ever granted a religious exemption to the covid vax, and the ‘process’ of evaluating it existed purely to burn time and shield them from lawsuits.
This is the same crap. They have realized that they have MASSIVE legal exposure here, because they are legally prohibited from mandating non-FDA approved vaccines – but THEY NEVER OFFERED the actual FDA approved vaccine, and only offered ‘substitutions’ of EUA vaccines THAT COULD NOT LEGALLY BE MANDATED.
They’re going to get slaughtered in court, and they know it, this is purely damage control.
Exactly. It’s another totally bogus premise. Like stealing your wallet, then saying, “I’ll give it back if you ask nicely.” They shouldn’t have stolen it in the first place.
Both of the things they’re “offering” are things former service members can do anyway, they don’t need permission from the Army or Air Force.
Our military leadership is scum. Every 4-star asshole who relayed the vaccination orders deserves courts-martial for dereliction of duty. They’re despicable.
“It’s another totally bogus premise. Like stealing your wallet, then saying, “I’ll give it back if you ask nicely.”
NSFW…
It saddens me to say that if I had the opportunity to return to service in today’s Army, I would flip them the bird and tell them shove it up their Wokeness.
Other than the special operations community the liberal brain disease has now infected the regular military to the point that it is almost beyond saving.
Oh by the way, they aren’t just doing this to fix their recruitment numbers.
DoD settles COVID vaccine mandate lawsuits for $1.8 million
$1.9 M for 2 cases. There were over 8000 military members booted for refusing to take the clot shot. Many have gathered to file class action lawsuits and there is every sign they will be successful. Do the math.
We trusted government and they destroyed our trust
We trusted the police and they destroyed our trust
The military had the highest trust of of all and they have destroyed it as well
Time to wear “Question Authority” T-shirts again.
Over ballistic vests.
…We trusted our doctors and they betrayed our trust…
The new anthem of the Space force is out. Let’s just say it reminds me of 1950’s Saturday space cartoon series intro. Nothing seriously good when compared to Jet Jackson, Rocky Jone Space Ranger or more modern space opera…. Buck Rogers, Battlestar Gallactica, Bab 5, the Star X’s and such.. No even close to the Air Force song nor the Army or Navy’s. Cool uniforms but …oh is it sad… anthem.
You mean the old anthem tanked after only about nine months? Brutal.
“Sure, I’ll come back…but only if you give me a general’s pay and a private’s responsiblity.”
“…and a private’s responsibility.” What?!? And miss out on the wonderful cocktail parties in Georgetown?
Letters “pleading?” They don’t seem to be very good at that, either.
Only fools would choose to serve under Quisling Joe.
They should get back pay and service credit.
Daughter and SIL are active military. They both almost left over the Covid nonsense and the woke stuff destroying the military but decided to stick it out being close enough to retirement to see it. They have many friends that were forced out who they still are in contact with. A few that are within 5yrs of retirement are thinking of coming back, they rest are so bitter they want nothing to do with any branch.
As others have said, the few that come back should get prior rank, advancement time in grade for the time out of uniform and full back pay at the rank they left. Any that passed a time threshold for advancement should be promoted.
“I heard she threw the letter away”
This is ‘Big Army’ at its worst. IMO this is more of a CYA exercise for the Pentagon flunkys. Other than those very close to retirement it makes zero sense to come back. Even then I suspect that many are potentially going to get denied VA disability claims due to a break in service. Not BS claims either but the regular orthopedic injuries that almost any combat Soldier has from wearing the 70+ lbs of gear, it isn’t at all good on the knees/back/ankles.
The unaddressed issue is going to be the presumption of injuries. Normally at the 8 year mark any/everything disabling is presumed to be service connected. With the break in service that’s not exactly clear how this played out. Even if ultimately these folks do get their application approved the VA and DoD can string the appeals out for years before granting the disability. Lots of potential for these folks to get hosed both back in service and post service.
not sure the $$$ would be the deciding factor–if you happen to have a critical mos there are plenty of opportunities in the private sector–serving alongside woke charlatans/putting your life in their hands/dependent on their judgment(particularly in critical missions) would not be worth any amount of moncy–no thanks