The US president has described the Pentagon’s dismissal policies in 2021-22 as “unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary”
US President Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to reinstate military personnel who were discharged for refusing to receive a Covid-19 vaccine.
The Department of Defense made vaccination mandatory in August 2021, giving all service members until November of that year to get the shot. The mandate was terminated in January 2023.
In an executive order issued on Monday, Trump called the policy an “unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members.” He went on to argue that the Pentagon had failed to provide exemptions to many troops who were eligible.
“Federal Government redress of any wrongful dismissals is overdue,” the US president said.
The document orders the DOD to “make reinstatement available to all members of the military (active and reserve) who were discharged solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.” Service members who provide a written and sworn attestation that they left the military because of the vaccine mandate should also be given the opportunity to return “with no impact on their service status, rank, or pay.”
According to the order, the secretaries of defense and homeland security will report on the progress to the president within 60 days.
In February 2022, then-Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth claimed that “unvaccinated soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness.” She added that those who do not comply would face swift “involuntary administrative separation proceedings.”
Several months later, service heads in charge of personnel told the Senate Armed Services Committee that approximately 3,400 service members had been discharged for refusing a Covid-19 vaccine, with the Marine Corps accounting for nearly 2,000 separations.
Breitbart reported that year that the number had reached 6,400.
Speaking in December 2022, the then-commandant of the Marine Corps, General David Berger, acknowledged that the vaccine mandate was a “big factor” in deterring the enlistment of new troops, especially in southern states.
Throughout 2022, all branches of the US military struggled to meet their recruitment quotas.
