President Donald Trump signed an executive order reinstating service members the Defense Department ousted because they refused the COVID-19 vaccine.
Sec. 2. Redress. Consistent with the policies announced in section 1 of this order, the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, shall take all necessary action permitted by law to:(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.
In August 2021, former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin mandated service members get the COVID vaccine or get kicked out.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration faced many lawsuits, leading to stays of the mandate.
But the stays did not happen before the Defense Department discharged many service members.
The Pentagon kicked out 8,400 soldiers.
Austin rescinded the mandate in 2023, but the discharged soldiers never returned.
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