Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem directed the United States Coast Guard to “begin implementing” President Donald Trump’s executive order reinstating service members who were discharged for not taking the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a memo provided exclusively to Breitbart News ahead of its public release, Noem explained that she was directing the United States Coast Guard “to immediately begin implementing the President’s direction and intent.”
The memo comes a day after Trump issued an executive order entitled “Reinstating Service Members Discharged Under The Military’s COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate.” In the executive order by signed by Trump, it states, “[t]he military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received. Federal Government redress of any wrongful dismissals is overdue.”
Noem wrote in the memo, “President Trump directed the government to reinstate servicemembers discharged due to the refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine who would like to return to service, with full back pay and benefits.”
“I am directing the United States Coast Guard to immediately begin implementing the President’s direction and intent and issue appropriate policies and orders,” Noem said in the memo.
The memo from Noem continues:
In implementing the President’s executive order, any enlistee reduced in rank prior to separation as a result of their refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine, or for a reason reasonably related to such refusal, shall be reinstated to the rank they obtained prior to the reduction that preceded or accompanied their separation. Further, any servicemember, officer or enlisted, who was selected but had not promoted shall return with the rank for which they were selected, the date of rank set to the date they would have promoted. Any legal issues with the implementation of the President’s executive order shall be reported by the Judge Advocate General of the Coast Guard to the Acting General Counsel as they arise.
“The U.S. Coast Guard shall issue a formal report on all actions taken relating to this direction no later than March 1, 2025,” Noem adds in the memo.
