{"id":45620,"date":"2018-04-19T21:51:07","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T21:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/04\/19\/immigrant-soldier-dies-waiting-for-us-military-to-clear-him-to-serve\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:04:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:04:35","slug":"immigrant-soldier-dies-waiting-for-us-military-to-clear-him-to-serve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2018\/04\/19\/immigrant-soldier-dies-waiting-for-us-military-to-clear-him-to-serve\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigrant soldier dies waiting for US military to clear him for duty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Fort Lee soldier caught in the bureaucratic limbo of the Pentagon\u2019s new \u201cextreme vetting\u201d for non-citizen service members has died while waiting for the military to clear him for duty, Military Times has learned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spc. Nemanja \u201cYani\u201d Janicijevic, 25, died April 12 during a physical fitness training session at Fort Lee, Virginia, installation officials said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had been stuck at Fort Lee for 11 months after his graduation from advanced individual training, up to the day of his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janicijevic, who was from Belgrade, Serbia, entered the military under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program<\/a>, or MAVNI, and was trained as a diagnostic equipment support specialist with the 832nd Ordnance Battalion, 59th Ordnance Brigade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MAVNI is a pilot program that helps the military<\/a> fill critical capability gaps such as foreign languages or medical skills by allowing non-U.S. citizens with those skills to enlist and earn citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janicijevic completed basic training, then arrived at Fort Lee for advanced individual training in August 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just months after Janicijevic began AIT at Fort Lee, however, the MAVNI program was suspended, leaving him and others like him in limbo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No new MAVNI recruits were accepted. Janicijevic became a \u201choldover<\/a>\u201d \u2014 a recruit who was essentially frozen in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Janicijevic waited, suspicion over foreign-born recruits took hold within the Pentagon\u2019s administrative ranks, despite generations of immigrant soldiers who have fought, died and become highly decorated members of the U.S. military, said retired Army Lt. Col. Margaret Stock, who now specializes in military immigration legal issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoD has officially made all of the MAVNIs into second-class citizens who have been labeled \u2018security threats\u2019 because of their foreign birth,\u201d Stock said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These additional barriers to entry for immigrant soldiers have come at a time when the military has had to push back on reports <\/a>that it is lowering entrance standards, due to the difficulty in finding young people who meet the military\u2019s physical fitness and aptitude tests \u2014 and who are willing to serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, as many as 13 or 14 percent of those already serving have not been deployable<\/a> for fitness, health or other reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, when informed of the soldier\u2019s death, press secretary Dana White said the Pentagon is working on vetting people more quickly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need every patriotic heart to serve,\u201d White said. \u201cThere were some significant security risks that were identified with the MAVNI program. But it\u2019s an important program. And it\u2019s important to ensure that we field the best for our military. So we will continue to work with all of our partners to ensure we can vet people effectively.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janicijevic was on his 336th day of waiting to be vetted when he died. <\/p>\n\n\n\t