Braxton Taylor
Thousands of Marines who were separated from the military for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine got messages from the service informing them of President Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order, which seeks to reinstate them into the armed forces with their previous rank and backpay should they decide to return.
However, the specifics on what that return to service would look like were not clear as of Tuesday. Despite the messages going out starting on Jan. 30, the Marine Corps could not answer questions related to what type of service obligation those troops might incur if they decide to come back, what benefits they might receive or if they will be required to forgo compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs as a requirement.
The service referred Military.com to the Defense Department on Tuesday for questions related to specific contract terms or benefits. A spokesperson from the Pentagon acknowledged the questions, but said they would not be able to respond by press time that afternoon. The spokesperson said they did not have a timeline on when they could answer those questions.
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The executive order offered incentives for those troops to return to service, but even as messages are hitting phones and inboxes of thousands of Marines since last week, none of the hundreds that responded have started the process because clear guidelines are not in place.
“As a result of the recent Presidential Executive Order making reinstatement available to service members discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccination, Marine Corps Recruiting Command sent out communication thanking the Marines for their previous service and informed them of the opportunity to return,” Jim Edwards, a spokesperson for the service’s recruiting command, said in an emailed statement to Military.com on Tuesday. “The Marine Corps is awaiting further guidance regarding regulations, policy guidelines and requirements that relate to rank, back pay and benefits.”
Moreover, speaking anonymously, two Pentagon officials noted that the process of establishing policy on how to interpret and carry out Trump’s order was still being developed and was not ready to be publicly rolled out to either reporters or would-be recruits.
Any such plan would have to take into account not only any obligations service members would need to agree to, but also provide guidance on how to consider information such as VA disability decisions or characterizations of discharge.
Meanwhile, the Marine Corps has reached out to 3,723 Marines through email and text starting last Thursday.
“To date, we have received 425 responses,” Edwards said. “None have started the process to return to service since we are still awaiting further guidance regarding the process, regulations, policy guidelines and requirements.”
Roughly 8,200 service members were separated from the military over their refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccination. Congress repealed the Pentagon’s mandate in 2023 and allowed those troops to return if they wished. Since then, only 113 of those previously separated for refusing the vaccine have returned to service.
Twenty-five of those who came back to the military over the last two years were Marines, according to the service.
The process to bring vaccine-separated troops back to the military has been established since the mandate was revoked two years ago, but the new executive order added additional requirements for the military that are not yet fleshed-out in practice.
Under Trump’s executive order from early last week, service members separated for refusing the vaccine will “revert to their former rank and receive full back pay, benefits, bonus payments or compensation.”
The order also said that its provisions are “subject to the availability of appropriations,” suggesting that specific funding for the initiative has not been allocated yet.
“In our correspondence,” Edwards, the Marine Corps spokesperson, said, “we asked Marines who are interested in more information as it becomes available to contact the Marine Corps Recruiting Command at an organizational email address.”
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