{"id":30518,"date":"2022-06-07T22:45:28","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T22:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/06\/07\/new-policy-keeps-hiv-positive-troops-deployable-bars-involuntary-separation-in-some-cases\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:49:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:49:54","slug":"new-policy-keeps-hiv-positive-troops-deployable-bars-involuntary-separation-in-some-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/06\/07\/new-policy-keeps-hiv-positive-troops-deployable-bars-involuntary-separation-in-some-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"New policy keeps HIV-positive troops deployable, bars involuntary separation in some cases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new Defense Department policy allows HIV-positive service members with an undetectable viral load to not only stay in uniform, but remain deployable<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New guidance laid out in a memo released Tuesday reverses a previous policy<\/a> that allowed commanders to involuntarily separate troops with HIV, prevent them from deploying \u2015 which can result in a discharge on its own \u2015 and prevent enlisted troops from attending officer candidate school and earning a commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the memo, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cites \u201csignificant advances in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of\u201d HIV as the impetus for the policy change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2019 report<\/a> by the Congressional Research Service found that about 350 service members are diagnosed with HIV annually, or 27-per-100,000 troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The update comes as DoD has been party to multiple recent lawsuits having to do with HIV and military service. In April, a federal judge in Virginia ruled that the services can\u2019t discharge or prevent the commissioning of current service members based solely on HIV status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plaintiffs in that case were two airmen, as well as a D.C. Army National Guard noncommissioned officer who had been barred from becoming a judge advocate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new policy does not deal with accessions, however. HIV-positive status is still disqualifying for anyone who wants to join the military, except in cases where a cadet or midshipman is diagnosed while already participating in a commissioning program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new policy will directly affect a federal lawsuit filed in May by a cadet at Norwich University in Massachusetts after his school\u2019s ROTC program dropped him based on his HIV status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The policy also keeps troops deployable, which is another prerequisite for service in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\t