Service members forced to leave the military for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine now have an extra year to return to the service, if they so choose, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said today.

In 2021, Pentagon officials issued a mandate that forced service members to either be vaccinated for COVID-19 or forced out of the military. Over the course of 500 days, nearly 8,000 active-duty and reserve service members were involuntarily separated for refusing to take the vaccine. Many others left voluntarily when their enlistments ended.

Last year, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order regarding reinstating service members discharged under the department's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Following that executive order, the War Department invited those service members to return and pick up where they left off. Part of that direction included correcting the records of some service members who were discharged with a less than honorable service characterization. Some service members - those involuntarily separated solely for refusing to take the vaccine - were and are still eligible to receive some kinds of compensation.

That initial invitation closes out next month. Now, the War Department is extending the deadline to April 1, 2027, giving those service members an extra year to decide whether they want to continue serving.

"While I am proud of our efforts over the past year, our obligations to make things right are not yet complete," Hegseth said in a video posted today to social media. "I am therefore extending the application of the department's reinstatement and return to service guidance established last April."

To encourage the return of experienced and dedicated service members, the active-service obligation for individuals returning to service under this guidance is now reduced from four years to two years, Hegseth said.

That change, he said, isn't just for former service members who choose to return over the next year. Barring a few exceptions, those who have already returned and incurred a four-year service obligation will need to serve only two years.

"This change reflects our confidence that returning [service] members will make an immediate and positive impact and aligns our reinstatement policy with the needs of both the service members and the military services," Hegseth said.

While the military services have already reached out to service members who were separated under the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the secretary has instructed the services to reach out again to reassess interest in the new offer.

"Given this policy modification, and to ensure that everyone whose career was cut short under the COVID-19 vaccine mandate receives the respect they deserve, I direct the secretaries of the military departments - the Army, the Navy and the Air Force - within 60 days, to once again recontact those who have not rejoined already and inform them of this new information and this new opportunity," the secretary said.