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Troops Reinstated: Ex-Soldiers Rejoin Army Amidst Vaccine Mandate Rollback and Recruitment Challenges

ByAlki David

Nov 22, 2023

In a significant development, 19 soldiers are making a triumphant return to the Army nearly a year after Congress compelled the Pentagon to retract its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The exclusive information obtained by The Post reveals a strategic move by the military to bolster its ranks amid ongoing recruitment hurdles.

This revelation follows the Army’s recent initiative, wherein a letter was dispatched to soldiers who had previously refused the vaccine, inviting them to reapply for service. The outreach effort was prompted by the broader process of rescinding the COVID mandate, as mandated by Congress, and aims to address the military’s pressing recruitment issues.

Army spokesman Bryce Dubee clarified, stating, “As part of the overall COVID mandate rescission process mandated by Congress, the Army this month mailed the letters to approximately 1,900 individuals who had previously been separated.” This signals a proactive approach by the military to reevaluate the status of those discharged under vaccine-related circumstances.

The soldiers who declined the vaccine without a valid exemption found themselves discharged for violating a lawful order. The Army, facing a considerable number of such cases, discharged 1,903 soldiers under these specific conditions alone.

The reinstatement of these 19 soldiers not only marks a personal triumph for them but also underscores the complex challenges the military is navigating in the aftermath of the vaccine mandate reversal. This move is undoubtedly a response to the broader recruitment difficulties faced by the armed forces, as they actively seek to rebuild their ranks.

As the Army welcomes back these soldiers, it remains to be seen how this unprecedented situation will impact the ongoing dynamics of military recruitment and the broader discourse surrounding vaccine mandates within the armed forces.

By Alki David

Alki David — Publisher, Media Architect, SIN Network Creator - live, direct-to-public communication, media infrastructure, accountability journalism, and independent distribution. Born in Lagos, Nigeria; educated in the United Kingdom and Switzerland; attended the Royal College of Art. Early internet broadcaster — participated in real-time public coverage during the 1997 Mars landing era using experimental online transmission from Beverly Hills. Founder of FilmOn, one of the earliest global internet television networks offering live and on-demand broadcasting outside legacy gatekeepers. Publisher of SHOCKYA — reporting since 2010 on systemic corruption inside the entertainment business and its expansion into law, finance, and regulation. Creator of the SIN Network (ShockYA Integrated Network), a federated media and civic-information infrastructure spanning investigative journalism, live TV, documentary, and court-record reporting. Lived and worked for over 40 years inside global media hubs including Malibu, Beverly Hills, London, Hong Kong and Gstaad. Early encounter with Julian Assange during the first Hologram USA operations proved a formative turning point — exposing the realities of lawfare, information suppression, and concentrated media power. Principal complainant and driving force behind what court filings describe as the largest consolidated media–legal accountability action on record, now before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Relocated to Antigua & Barbuda and entered sustained legal, civic, and informational confrontation over media power, safeguarding, and accountability at Commonwealth scale.