The Pentagon is considering speeding up the process to bring back ex-service members discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.
Less than two dozen service members have been reinstated, though hundreds have applied.
Sources say Defense Department officials are weighing whether to grant honorable discharges to some people forced out of the U.S. military for not getting vaccinated.
The change would apply only to those whose departures stemmed exclusively from their refusal to take the vaccine. Troops who refused the shots but also had additional disciplinary infractions would not be eligible to have their discharges upgraded.
Veterans forced out under the mandate have been frustrated by what they described as a slow, arduous process to return to service. Some have also called for accountability for military leaders who enforced the Biden-era vaccine policy and would like to see them terminated from their positions.
A listening session regarding snags in the reinstatement process is scheduled for Sept. 3. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is likely to speak, two of the sources said.
Then Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in 2021 mandated the coronavirus vaccine for all service members, citing the need for a “healthy and ready force.”
It was a polarizing issue among the rank and file and in the highest corridors of the Pentagon.
Congress limited the type of discharges defense officials could issue for refusing the coronavirus vaccine. The lawmakers required service members receive either an honorable discharge, or what’s known as a “general discharge under honorable conditions” – a status that signals a service member fell short of meeting every standard of conduct, but generally served in good faith.
Republicans lawmakers successfully sought an end to the coronavirus vaccine mandate and Austin rescinded it in 2023.
By then, roughly 8,700 active duty and reserve service members had either voluntarily or involuntarily left the military for refusing to take the vaccine.
A week after taking office, President Trump signed an executive order reinstating those who requested it, and called the vaccine mandate “an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members.”
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell told CBS News on Friday that the Defense Department is prioritizing reinstatement cases and will continue to seek feedback from those men and women.
Officials recently enabled military branches to offer service members additional incentives to fulfill their four-year service obligation entirely in an active reserve status, with eligibility for back pay, Parnell said. Or, service members can choose to serve two years on active duty and two years in an active reserve status.
“The military services can also offer other incentives, such as duty station preferences, appropriate reclassification, and geographic stability during initial assignments,” Parnell said.
Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News.
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