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Last week, the federal Senate approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which provided protection of military members from being dismissed from their posts if they refused to take a COVID shot or booster. In the wake of that passage, Senator James Lankford has joined forces with several other Senators to send a letter to the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urging him to freeze all COVID-19 vaccine-related discharges and to establish a method for providing back pay and full benefits to military personnel who were dismissed prior to the recent legislation.

In their letter, they state that “thousands of brave men and women were harmed because of the Pentagon’s misguided approach to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement” and that reinstating backpay and benefits, even if they do not reinstate the personnel back into duty is the right thing to do for both morale and the security of our future Armed Forces.