Members with questions about reinstatement should contactosd.pentagon.ousd-p-r.mbx.c-19-reinstatement@mail.mil for support navigating this process. The Department stands ready to help.

The secretary's memorandum directed the PTDO USD(P&R) to provide guidance to the military departments on procedures to rapidly reinstate those who were involuntarily discharged or voluntarily separated from service due to the department’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The department clarified service obligation guidance to ensure it was in line with current reenlistment expectations.

Service members who were involuntarily discharged from military service solely for not complying with the COVID-19 mandate or those service members who voluntarily left to avoid vaccination.

Under the previous administration, the department involuntarily separated approximately 8,700 service members for failing to comply with the department’s now-rescinded COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

Approximately 53,000 service members sought a medical or administrative exemption, including a religious accommodation, from the department’s now-rescinded COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Service members will be expected to meet the medical qualification requirements for retention, as set forth by their respective military service.

Individuals will have one year (until April 1, 2026) to take advantage of this reinstatement opportunity.

Military departments will directly contact service members who were involuntarily separated and provide them with detailed information on how to initiate the process for reinstatement.

In cases where service members voluntarily left the service or allowed their service to lapse, the secretaries of the military departments will continue to broadly communicate (e.g., via social media, external websites, newsletters) information to inform these members about the process to return to service. Should those individuals elect to return to service, then they must present a written statement attesting that they chose to leave the service or allowed their service to lapse, rather than be vaccinated under the vaccine mandate. The secretaries of the military departments will then provide an accelerated process for the member to return to service.

The military departments previously communicated to former service members impacted by the COVID-19 mandate and provided them information on how those individuals could request correction of their military personnel records and apply for return to service. However, under the previous administration there was no provision for back pay for former service members who elected to return.

Service members who are reinstated or selected to return to service will incur a service obligation of four years, or as little as two years for those eligible to retire within that time.

A former service member who returns to service under this policy is entitled to receive compensation for any lost basic pay, housing and subsistence allowances, and health care benefits between the date of discharge and the date the member returns to service, less an offset for any civilian wages, medical benefits received, VA disability compensation, separation payments and lump sum leave payments received during this period.

A service member who received a bonus contingent upon completing a specific service obligation, and who previously had all or a portion of the bonus recouped due to being discharged, will recoup any portion of the bonus previously repaid.

Service members who are eligible for back pay may be entitled to other non-monetary benefits that would have otherwise accrued between the date the member was discharged and the date the member returns to service. These could include benefits such as credit toward military retirement and, for members in an active-duty status, the accrual of annual leave at a rate of 2.5 days per month.

Service members who are reinstated under this policy will have their records corrected to reflect that they were never discharged from active service, which includes the removal of all discharge documentation, including any prior service characterization associated with the discharge.

No, this new policy will not result in a record correction unless the service member seeks reinstatement. Those service members who do not seek reinstatement but desire an upgrade to their service characterization should apply to their discharge review board requesting this relief. Prior guidance from the secretaries of the military departments advising the discharge review boards that they should normally grant service characterization upgrades for COVID-19-related discharges was issued in September 2023.

On Aug. 24, 2021, the secretary directed secretaries of the military departments to immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the armed forces under DOD authority.

The secretary rescinded the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Jan. 10, 2023, to comply with legislation passed by Congress.