{"id":404199,"date":"2025-04-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=404199"},"modified":"2025-04-07T17:01:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T17:01:01","slug":"air-force-personnel-who-voluntarily-left-over-vaccine-mandate-offered-path-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=404199","title":{"rendered":"Air Force personnel who voluntarily left over vaccine mandate offered path back"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.defense.gov\/2021\/Oct\/01\/2002866474\/2000\/2000\/0\/211001-D-HN545-1000.PNG\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><strong class=\"article-detail-dateline\">ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) &#8212; \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Department of Defense<\/strong><\/a> is offering a path back to service for military personnel who voluntarily separated or left to avoid the COVID-19 vaccination mandate. A new policy outlines procedures for these former service members to rejoin, restoring their previous rank and pay. This policy does not apply to those involuntarily discharged for refusing the vaccine; a separate process exists for those individuals.<\/p>\n<p>Interested former service members can contact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetc.af.mil\/Air-Force-Recruiting-Service\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Air Force Recruiting Service<\/strong><\/a> at <a href=\"http:\/\/mailto:AFRS.HQRSOPA.AccessionsStandards@us.af.mil\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>AFRS.HQRSOPA.AccessionsStandards@us.af.mil<\/strong><\/a> to schedule pre-screening at their nearest Military Entrance Processing Station. The re-accession process involves completing the Department of the Air Force\u2019s Attestation Memo and working with a recruiter. Eligible members with no limiting factors will be offered the opportunity to re-enter the force under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforce.com\/ways-to-serve\/prior-service\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Prior Service Program<\/strong><\/a> for a minimum two-year commitment.<\/p>\n<p>The military departments will use various communication channels, including social media, websites\u00a0and newsletters, to inform eligible individuals. Outreach materials will explain the re-accession process, eligibility requirements\u00a0and necessary documentation, including a sworn attestation confirming their voluntary departure due to the mandate.<\/p>\n<p>While re-accession will reinstate rank and pay, it will not include back pay, bonuses, or credit for lost service time. Those seeking such compensation can pursue claims through the standard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/Contact\/Help-Center\/Article\/Article\/2742476\/request-correction-of-military-records\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Board for Correction of Military\/Naval Records process<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The military departments will monitor reintegration and report progress to the <a href=\"https:\/\/prhome.defense.gov\/Home\/Leaders\/JHurst\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness<\/strong><\/a> every 30 days, starting one month after the memorandum\u2019s effective date. Reports will include data on re-accession requests, ranks, review dates\u00a0and outcomes, as well as the number of attestations.<\/p>\n<p>This policy does not apply to individuals discharged for misconduct unrelated to their vaccination status and will expire one year after the memorandum\u2019s effective date.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.af.mil\/COVID-Reinstatement\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>More information<\/strong><\/a> can be found here.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ast-split ntext breakout \">\n<div class=\"item\">\n<div class=\"body\">\n<section class=\"ast-brandedhr\">\n<div class=\"ast-brandedhr-line\">\n<p>                <title>U.S. Air Force Logo<\/title><\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) &#8212; \u00a0 The Department of Defense is offering a path back to service for military personnel who voluntarily separated or left to avoid the COVID-19 vaccination mandate. A new policy outlines procedures for these former service members to rejoin, restoring their previous rank and pay. This policy does not apply to those [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":108410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-404199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=404199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":404200,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404199\/revisions\/404200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/108410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=404199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=404199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=404199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}