(NewsNation) —President Trump will sign an executive order Monday allowing for the reinstatement of about 8,000 service members who were discharged during the height of the pandemic for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Under Trump’s order, these service members will be reinstated with former rank, full back pay and benefits if they reenlist.
The move comes as the next in a series of executive orders that Trump promised while on the campaign trail.
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From August 2021 to January 2023, the Biden administration discharged thousands of troops over their refusal to get a mandated COVID-19 shot, with limited exceptions for medical issues or religious objections.
The number of service members that were discharged represented less than 1% of the Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and about 2% of the army.
The Pentagon allowed dismissed soldiers to reapply once the mandate was rescinded in 2023, but only 43 chose to do so, according to federal statistics.
With many of these members not returning and low recruiting numbers, Trump’s new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, is hoping the new order will incentivize many of them to come back.
