WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A U.S. Air Force general, who was forced to retire early in 2022 after she refused to take the military's then-mandatory Covid-19 vaccine under the Biden administration, has been re-instated to service.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth welcomed Air Force Brig. Gen. Melissa S. Cunningham back into the Air Force during a swearing-in ceremony at the Pentagon last week.
'What a wonderful thing it is to be standing here right now with you, with the stance that you've taken,' Hegseth told Cunningham at the ceremony's outset.
'Not only did you take a private stand in a very principled way as a warrior of conscience, but you led the way for others . and you stood courageously beside [your principles] on your faith, . which truly speaks to your character and [is] exactly, precisely, the kind of person we want to be bringing back,' he added.
The drive to get service members who were forced out of the military during the coronavirus pandemic back into uniform began with President Donald Trump signing an Executive Order last year, which required the secretaries of war and homeland security to reinstate all members of the military, active and reserve, who were discharged solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and who requested reinstatement.
Following the order, Hegseth implemented the one-year reinstatement policy and then extended it for an additional year in March.
During his remarks, Hegseth acknowledged that the process of reinstating service members who had refused the vaccine has been challenging, but that it's been worth it.
Between 8,000-8,700 U.S. service members were voluntarily and involuntarily discharged or separated for refusing the vaccine between August 2021 and January 2023, according to the Pentagon. Since Trump signed his executive order, 608 of them returned to active duty.
Following her swearing in, 26-year veteran Cunningham expressed deep gratitude to President Trump and Hegseth for working to get her and other similarly discharged service members reinstated. She also called on motivated service members who might not have applied for reinstatement yet to pursue that course of action.
She added that she was making a plea for those who were harmed by the Covid-19 vaccine mandate to help her lay a firm foundation in the military and 'help repair the breach' that was left by all the forced discharges during the pandemic.
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