In a memorandum he wrote yesterday:
"In accordance with the James M. lnhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 Sec.
525 and the Secretary of Defense's 10 January 2023 memorandum, "Rescission of August 24, 2021 and
November 30, 2021 Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination Requirements for Members of the Armed
Forces," I hereby rescind my 3 September 2021 memorandum, "Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019
Vaccination of Depa1tment of the Air Force Military Members." The "Supplemental Coronavirus Disease
2019 Vaccination Policy" I issued on 7 December 2021 expired, by its own terms on 7 December 2022."
"No individuals currently serving in the Department of the Air Force shall be separated solely on
the basis of their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination if they sought an accommodation on
religious, administrative, or medical grounds. The Department of the Air Force will update the
records of such individuals to remove any adverse actions solely associated with denials of such
requests, including letters of reprimand. The Department of the Air Force will cease any ongoing
reviews of current Service member religious, administrative or medical accommodation requests
solely for exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine or appeals of denials of such requests. Former
Department of the Air Force Service members may petition the Air Force Discharge Review Board and
Board for Correction of Military Records to individually request a correction to their personnel
records, including records regarding the characterization of their discharge. Additional guidance
on implementation of the memorandum will be forthcoming, as needed."
This is wild to me. In my 22 years as an Air Force member, I've never seen such a stark reversal of policy in such a short amount of time. The bolded text above states that not only will the AF no longer remove people for refusal to take the vaccine, but they will remove all records of adverse actions taken against those personnel over the last year. You will most likely see a slew of reviews to see if people were denied promotion or anything else due to poor EPRs or LORs received during this time. I'm betting you'll even see some people who were removed allowed back in, since their discharge paperwork will now show an honorable discharge.
"In accordance with the James M. lnhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 Sec.
525 and the Secretary of Defense's 10 January 2023 memorandum, "Rescission of August 24, 2021 and
November 30, 2021 Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination Requirements for Members of the Armed
Forces," I hereby rescind my 3 September 2021 memorandum, "Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019
Vaccination of Depa1tment of the Air Force Military Members." The "Supplemental Coronavirus Disease
2019 Vaccination Policy" I issued on 7 December 2021 expired, by its own terms on 7 December 2022."
"No individuals currently serving in the Department of the Air Force shall be separated solely on
the basis of their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination if they sought an accommodation on
religious, administrative, or medical grounds. The Department of the Air Force will update the
records of such individuals to remove any adverse actions solely associated with denials of such
requests, including letters of reprimand. The Department of the Air Force will cease any ongoing
reviews of current Service member religious, administrative or medical accommodation requests
solely for exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine or appeals of denials of such requests. Former
Department of the Air Force Service members may petition the Air Force Discharge Review Board and
Board for Correction of Military Records to individually request a correction to their personnel
records, including records regarding the characterization of their discharge. Additional guidance
on implementation of the memorandum will be forthcoming, as needed."
This is wild to me. In my 22 years as an Air Force member, I've never seen such a stark reversal of policy in such a short amount of time. The bolded text above states that not only will the AF no longer remove people for refusal to take the vaccine, but they will remove all records of adverse actions taken against those personnel over the last year. You will most likely see a slew of reviews to see if people were denied promotion or anything else due to poor EPRs or LORs received during this time. I'm betting you'll even see some people who were removed allowed back in, since their discharge paperwork will now show an honorable discharge.
