De acuerdo con una nueva directiva del US ARMY, los comandantes deben “inmediatamente iniciar procedimientos de separaci\u00f3n administrativa involuntaria” para las tropas que rechazaron la vacuna y no tienen una exenci\u00f3n pendiente o aprobada. El mensaje tambi\u00e9n instruye a los comandos para “procesar estas separaciones tan pronto como sea posible”.<\/p>\n
The Army is \u201cimmediately\u201d beginning involuntary discharges for active duty troops who have refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the service announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In a release announcing the move, the service noted that the order also applies to cadets, Guard and Reserve troops who are on Title 10 active duty tours of more than 30 days. Soldiers who are scheduled to separate, retire or begin their terminal leave before July 1 will receive administrative exemptions.<\/p>\n
According to a\u00a0new Army directive<\/a>, commanders are to \u201cimmediately…initiate involuntary administrative separation proceedings\u201d for troops who have refused the vaccine and don\u2019t have a pending or approved exemption. The message also instructs commands to \u201cprocess these separations…as expeditiously as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n As of Jan. 26, only 3,350 active duty soldiers have\u00a0refused the vaccine<\/a>, and only 3,619 requests for religious or medical exemptions remain pending. The service has not yet approved any religious accommodations for the shot, though it has authorized six permanent medical exemptions. Troops whose exemption requests are denied will have a week to either get the shot or file an appeal, the release said.<\/p>\n Enlisted soldiers refusing the shot will receive an involuntary discharge for \u201ccommission of a serious offense,\u201d but an Army official clarified on background that the service currently plans to permit those troops to reenlist with a waiver should they later get the vaccine.<\/p>\n Officers and warrant officers who refused the vaccine have until March \u2014 or two weeks after their exemption requests are denied \u2014 to resign rather than face separation proceedings, the directive said.<\/p>\n Soldiers eligible to retire on or before July 1 will \u201cbe permitted to retire…through expedited process\u201d rather than be kicked out, according to the directive. They, too, must submit their retirement requests by March or within 14 days of their exemption request being denied.<\/p>\n Bonus recoupment and discharge characterization<\/strong><\/p>\n The directive confirmed that the Army will comply with\u00a0a measure in the fiscal 2022 defense policy bill<\/a>\u00a0that barred the services from issuing other-than-honorable discharges solely for vaccine refusal.<\/p>\n \u201cAll soldiers, including those in an entry-level status, who are refusing to become vaccinated will be issued either an Honorable or General (under honorable conditions)\u201d discharge, the directive said. But it cautioned that troops with \u201cadditional misconduct\u201d may receive an other-than-honorable discharge.<\/p>\n Even a general discharge under honorable conditions would impact the post-service benefits available to troops who refused the vaccine.<\/p>\n