Conservative military veterans are sounding the alarm over a new Department of Defense reinstatement form that they say whitewashes the truth about their forced separations during the COVID-19 vaccine mandate era.
Veterans who once wore the uniform with honor are now being told that if they want back in, they must lie on paper and pretend they left the military of their own free will.
The Department of Defense has released updated guidance officially inviting back thousands of service members who were involuntarily separated for refusing to comply with the now-defunct COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The move comes under Executive Order 14184, signed by President Donald Trump on January 27, 2025, and implemented by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The order compels the Pentagon to offer reinstatement to any military personnel—active or reserve—who were forced out solely for refusing the COVID shot.
The new policy outlines a comprehensive process for both involuntary and voluntary separations.
For those involuntarily discharged, the Military Departments are tasked with identifying and contacting eligible former service members, offering them reinstatement through the Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records (BCM/NRs).
The process includes medical pre-screening, expedited record reviews, and potential financial benefits like back pay, restored rank, and credit for lost service time, subject to offsets such as wages earned post-separation.
Reinstatement requires a four-year service commitment, with a two-year option for those nearing retirement eligibility.
Service members who voluntarily left or allowed their service to lapse to avoid vaccination can also apply to return.
They must submit a sworn statement attesting to their decision and meet retention standards.
While re-accession restores rank and pay, it does not include back pay or other retroactive benefits unless pursued separately through standard BCM/NR processes.
The rollout follows a groundswell of complaints from veterans like USMC veteran Daniel Pendergast, who publicly criticized the Pentagon’s new “reinstatement form” for requiring a signed statement declaring their separation was “voluntary and made freely without coercion.”
Pendergast, echoing many of his peers, called the document “a textbook case of duress.”
“I’ve just received this form from recruiting and I cannot sign my name to it,” Pendergast wrote.
He continued, “I did NOT leave freely without any coercion. The DoD was making it abundantly clear that they were not going to honor sincerely held religious accommodations and I, barring policy change, would be dishonorably or other than honorable removed from the military. That is a textbook case of duress.”
Buried in the paperwork is a landmine, it reads:
“I, [name], attest I voluntarily separated from the (Air) (Space) Force or allowed my service to lapse rather than be vaccinated under the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which was in effect from 24 August 2021 to 10 January 2023. My decision to separate was made freely and without coercion.
I am voluntarily seeking to return to military service. In doing so, I acknowledge the following:
I will return to service with the same rank and pay held immediately prior to separation. I will not be entitled to backpay, credit for lost service, or similar relief.
I will be required to meet applicable medical standards. I will incur a service commitment.
Law, regulation, and policy may further preclude my restoration of service.
This attestation is not a binding contract guaranteeing military service.”
I’ve just received this form from recruiting and I cannot sign my name to it. I did NOT leave freely without any coercion. The DoD was making it abundantly clear that they were not going to honor sincerely held religious accommodations and I, barring policy change, would be… https://t.co/burLBrcNab pic.twitter.com/mTIXwNGuSc
— Daniel Pendergast (@tenndergast) April 8, 2025
Former USAF intelligence officer Jordan Karr, who sued the Pentagon over the vaccine mandates, echoed Pendergast’s outrage.
“I cannot in good faith encourage anyone to sign their name to this form. I’m on your side, but this feels like a new administration applying the same ‘gun to your head’ tactics from the last one,” she wrote. “If you want to return, all you have to do is admit there was no coercion? That’s malicious compliance.”
I cannot in good faith encourage anyone to sign their name to this form. @DoD_USD_PR @SecDef I am on your side but this feels like a new administration applying the same “gun to your head” tactics from the previous administration.
Feels like “If you want to return all you… pic.twitter.com/8gstQCweql
— Jordan Karr (@JordanLkarr) April 8, 2025
She added, I’m actually stunned at the audacity. My BCMR shows WITH PROOF that not only was there coercion, but that policy/laws were broken! WHO is responsible for advising that this be put in USA airforce?!
Karr pulled no punches in questioning the top brass, calling out both the Secretary of Defense and the Pentagon’s personnel office:
“Does @SecDef know his services are coercing veterans into signing something that removes responsibility from the commanders who forced us out? This is NOT what @POTUS promised. Who signed off on this?”
I’m still waiting for this to be addressed. ⬇️
Does @SecDef know that his services are trying to coerce veterans into signing something that would remove responsibility from the commanders who forced us out?
This is NOT what @POTUS promised.
Who signed off on this language? https://t.co/4rU4f5aeTp
— Jordan Karr (@JordanLkarr) April 10, 2025
Military attorney R. Davis Younts, who has represented numerous clients discharged under the Biden-era mandates, called the policy deceptive and manipulative in a statement to Just the News.
R. Davis Younts, a lawyer who represents multiple former and current service members negatively impacted by the COVID vaccine mandate, told Just the News on Thursday that the “path for those involuntarily discharged is reasonable,” unlike the guidance for those who left without being involuntarily discharged.
The guidance sent by the Air National Guard says that former members “have to sign a waiver saying they left voluntarily, were not coerced to leave,” will get their rank back, but won’t receive back pay, and will thus “not claim through the Board of Corrections or a court that they suffered any harm for getting forced out,” Younts said.
He added that while he has had “very productive meetings and conversations” with senior Pentagon officials “about a reasonable path to reinstatement,” the ideas discussed “are not yet part of the guidance being put out” in the short time the new administration has been in office.
Younts believes that “there are some senior leaders at the Pentagon that don’t understand the full scope of the problem or its impact,” and ”that there’s a lot of bureaucratic resistance to any sort of action to provide a meaningful path to reinstatement for the majority of people who left over the COVID vaccine mandate.”
While there were 8,000-plus military members who were involuntarily discharged over the COVID vaccine mandate, there is “a huge number that were not allowed to reenlist, forced to retire early, passed over for promotions, and not allowed to complete training programs solely because of the COVID vaccine mandate,” Younts said.
“I’m optimistic that senior leadership and officials that I talked to at the Pentagon understand and are sympathetic to these concerns and want to address them, but I’m seeing a level of malicious compliance in an attempt to stop, slow roll, or make an effort to make reinstatement meaningless for most people impacted by COVID,” he added.
Meanwhile, the DoD’s response team issued a limp statement, claiming they’re “reviewing” the matter.
We are reviewing this. https://t.co/jEMPbpUi7M
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) April 12, 2025
