A new defense bill, unveiled on Dec. 7, directs U.S. military officials to consider reinstating troops who were removed from the military for refusing to comply with its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“At the request of a covered individual during the two years following the date of the involuntary separation of the covered individual, the secretary concerned shall consider reinstating such covered individual,” the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) states.
The official who considers the request is the secretary in charge of the branch of which the former member who makes the request was a part.
“Covered individuals” include former members who were “involuntarily separated from an armed force solely on the basis of the refusal of such individual to receive a vaccination against COVID-19,” according to the bill. The former members must also have requested some kind of exemption, whether of a religious, administrative, or medical nature. The latter portion was added during negotiations involving Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)….
