SecDef works to return personnel with full restitution
Today, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth uttered words that thousands of U.S. military personnel loved to hear - the Covid vaccine mandate was an illegal order. Hegseth ordered all those who were forced out over vaccine refusal to be returned to service with full restitution.
Armed Forces Press has been vocal about the illegal nature of the order for years, sticking our neck out, and taking flak from those leaders lacking courage to do the right thing for our troops.
This is huge - it is a game changer.
Many former military members were frustrated over continued persecution by those in power at DoD blocking their return, such as a requirement to state the members left of their own free will.
All of this is now gone with Hegseth's order.
There is joy in Mudville this night.
We can compare and contrast that to the anthrax vaccine where the secretary of defense was nordo (flying without a radio) and the assistant secretary defense for health affairs responded arrogantly to the federal court injunction requiring the military to do the right thing.
And of course, we can compare it to the previous secretary of defense who put out technically legal guidance on the mandate, but the execution was patently illegal using emergency use authorized, unapproved medical product, whereas the directive said they could not mandate that product, which is the only product that existed.
Clearly, the new secretary of defense gets it. That's why he kept saying it was experimental and now says the mandate was unlawful.
Sir who do I talk to about this? my career was set back due to the unlawful order.
Finally! Should have been announced on day 1, but it’s better late than never.