The department will now process screening requirements and the force’s Board for Correction of Military Records jointly and employ case managers to speed up the return, according to the release.

“The Department of the Air Force has a resolute commitment to rapidly return affected service members to the ranks,” Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Honorable Richard L. Anderson said in the statement.

“By running medical certifications and record-correction board actions in parallel rather than sequentially, and establishing dedicated reinstatement case managers as single, proactive points of contact for applicants, we aim to increase the speed and ease of returning former members to service under the DAF COVID-19 reinstatement program,” he continued.

The move comes as the Pentagon struggles to reinstate troops that left service after refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Only 3% of those eligible have opted to return out of the 8,700 service members who involuntarily separated in 2021.

The Pentagon’s 8,700 figure was contested by data from the branches released in late 2022 that showed the number was actually closer to 8,400 service members: 3,717 Marines, 2,041 Navy sailors, 1,841 Army soldiers and 834 Air Force and Space Force members.

The department stated in the release that the updates to the process align with the Department of Defense’s May establishment of a Reinstatement and Reconciliation Task Force that directed all services to identify and remove roadblocks to the reinstatement of affected service members.

The Air Force now allows for medical certifications and board-corrected actions to proceed at the same time, instead of sequentially, removing the average 30-day barrier related to medical clearances, per the release.

Alongside the workflow change, case managers will now serve as points of contact for applicants and are instructed to remove delays caused by missing documents, help members throughout the process and ensure fast reintegration.

The appointment of case managers also allows the Air Force Review Board Agency COVID Reinstatement team to focus solely on finalizing cases, according to the announcement.

Airmen and guardians pursuing a return to service under the January 2025 executive order are subject to these updates, the release states. The expedited program is under a one-year extension that remains open until April 2027, as directed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Former 1st Lt. Mark Bashaw announced the pardon on social media, thanking Trump and all his supporters who “took a stand against tyranny.” He also posted a picture referencing conspiracy theories that the COVID-19 virus was a planned event by global elitists for unspecified, nefarious reasons.

Bashaw was convicted but given no prison sentence after refusing to obey orders designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

He had previously worked as an entomologist at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and commanded the headquarters company for the Army Public Health Center.

Military investigators said Bashaw refused to telework and traveled to his office without submitting evidence of a prior COVID-19 test. Both were required of soldiers at the facility in 2022 who were not vaccinated against the virus.

Bashaw was also found guilty of refusing to wear a mask in indoor areas, in violation of military protocols at the time. He was the first service member court-martialed for refusing to adhere to COVID mitigation protocols.

He was discharged from the Army in 2023.

Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in recent months have worked to overturn a host of past punishments and dismissals for pandemic violations in the military, including offering reinstatement and back pay to some troops forced out for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.

Although Bashaw did not have any prison time related to his conviction, Trump’s pardon erases his criminal record completely. White House officials did not release a statement on the reasoning behind the pardon.

More than 500,000 U.S. troops contracted COVID-19 during the pandemic from March 2020 to May 2023, but fewer than 100 died of complications related to the virus.

The promise, which Trump said will happen sometime this week, came amid a host of military policy priorities for the new administration outlined in Trump’s inauguration speech. He also pledged to rebuild the military and avoid unnecessary wars during his term in office.

“I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate with full back pay,” Trump said, drawing applause from a crowd of supporters crowded into the U.S. Capitol for ceremonies. “And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty.”

Trump’s statement follows similar comments by his defense secretary pick, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, during a Senate hearing last week.

Hegseth stated that “tens of thousands of service members were kicked out because of an experimental vaccine” and promised that those individuals would be “apologized to” and brought back into the military.

Defense Department leaders mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for all troops from August 2021 to January 2023, with limited exceptions for medical issues or religious objections. About 8,000 troops were forced out of the service for refusing the order.

That number represents less than half of 1% of the total military end strength. But in the years since the mandate was lifted, conservative lawmakers have accused Defense Department officials of severely impacting force readiness with the dismissals, and called for those individuals to be allowed to return to the ranks.

Pentagon leaders have said the dismissals did not hurt readiness or morale. But they did implement procedures allowing those individuals to reapply for military service after the vaccine mandate was lifted. Only a few dozen pursued the program, according to Defense Department statistics.

Military members are required to receive more than a dozen vaccines as part of their normal onboarding process, but the COVID-19 vaccine became controversial because of the rapid nature of its development at the end of Trump’s first term in office.

Globally, more than 7 million people have died from complications related to the virus, according to the World Health Organization.

Trump in his speech also promised to “again build the strongest military the world has ever seen” and said that he hopes his legacy in office will be that of a “peacemaker and unifier.”

New White House officials did not immediately say when the executive order regarding military COVID vaccines might be signed. Trump had planned several others for Monday, including ones dealing with immigration.

The surprise statement came amid unrelated questions about Hegseth’s views towards diversity and discrimination policies in the military. Hegseth, who previously served in the National Guard, said past Pentagon policies requiring the vaccine amounted to its own form of religious discrimination.

“Tens of thousands of service members were kicked out because of an experimental vaccine,” Hegseth said. “They will be apologized to. They will be reinstated, reinstituted with pay and rank.”

Defense Department leaders mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for all troops from August 2021 to January 2023, with limited exceptions for medical issues or religious objections. About 8,000 troops were forced out of the service for refusing the order.

That number represents less than half of 1% of the total military end strength. But in the years since the mandate was lifted, conservative lawmakers have accused Defense Department officials of severely impacting force readiness with the dismissals and called for those individuals to be allowed to return to the ranks.

Pentagon leaders implemented procedures allowing those individuals to reapply for military service after the vaccine mandate was lifted, but only a few dozen pursued the program, according to Defense Department statistics.

If Hegseth’s statement becomes policy, it could prove to be costly for the military. Back pay alone could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s also unclear whether many of the individuals dismissed years ago would be interested in giving up their new jobs to rejoin the military.

A formal apology by Pentagon leadership, however, would not cost any taxpayer funds. It would likely enrage some advocacy groups who have noted that the troops disobeyed direct orders by refusing the vaccines.

Military members are required to receive more than a dozen vaccines as part of their normal onboarding process, but the COVID-19 vaccine became controversial due to a combination of factors, including the rapid pace of its development at the end of President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office.

Veterans Affairs officials in November said that COVID-19 remains a significant public health threat even years after the height of the global pandemic, with thousands of cases requiring treatment each month.

Globally, more than 7 million people have died from complications related to the virus, according to the World Health Organization.

Hegseth’s nomination is expected to be voted on by senators in coming days.

However, local officials can opt to reinstate mask mandates for patient and staff safety if regional conditions warrant it.

Private hospital systems in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and Washington D.C. have returned to mask requirements at their facilities in recent weeks, citing an increase in cases of the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that COVID-19 hospitalizations were up more than 56% from the start of December to the start of January. As of Jan. 14, active COVID-19 cases within the VA health care system were up nearly 33% over the last month, matching their highest level since 12 months earlier.

VA rescinded its previous mandatory masking requirement for department medical sites in March 2023, just two months before the formal end of the national pandemic emergency. Department officials said they are not currently looking to follow the lead of those private sector hospitals.

“At this time, VA has no recommendation for reinstating VA-wide masking requirements,” said VA spokesman Gary Kunich. “Our experts are continuously evaluating the national and international epidemiological conditions and providing policy support.”

Department health researchers reported nearly 1,800 deaths related to COVID-19 among VA patients in 2023. Since March 2020, more than 25,600 patients connected to VA health care have died from complications related to the virus.

Health care officials have warned in recent years that veterans may be more susceptible to serious health problems stemming from coronavirus infection because of other existing medical complications.

Kunich said local health care leaders can opt to make masks mandatory regardless of the national policy if they see local surges in cases.

VA medical staff have provided more than 5.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses over the last two years. Veterans or family members interested in receiving a booster can contact their closest VA health care location for information on availability.

Included in the annual defense authorization bill passed by Congress earlier this month is language calling for “a study to assess and evaluate any health conditions and adverse events arising in service members on active duty one year after receiving the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.” Researchers will be required to report their findings back to lawmakers in December 2024.

The vaccine has been a target of conservative lawmakers for years. In the fiscal 2023 defense authorization bill, lawmakers repealed the Defense Department’s mandate for all troops to receive the vaccine. This year’s bill also contains a host of provisions related to potential reenlistment of individuals kicked out of the ranks for refusing the shots.

But the research mandate — inserted by Republican House members during debate on the legislation — takes that further, again calling into question the safety of the vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that “serious problems [linked to the vaccine] are rare and long-term side effects unlikely.” They have also said that medical research thus far has not shown any increased risk of death associated with receiving the inoculation, while contracting coronavirus does carry an increased risk of death.

But the agency has documented allergic reactions and heart problems in a small percentage of vaccine recipients.

The study will look at “any health condition developed after receiving such first dose, regardless of whether the condition is attributable to the receipt of such first dose,” and “an accounting of adverse events including hyperimmune response” linked to the vaccine.

House Republicans had also pushed for language prohibiting military leaders from mandating masks to prevent the spread of future COVID-19 outbreaks, but that language was dropped in final deliberations over the bill.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign the authorization bill into law before the end of the month.

The department will be among the first federal agencies to get doses of the vaccine, according to VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month approved the new vaccine booster and are recommending it for anyone six months or older who has not gotten a coronavirus vaccine in recent weeks.

“The vaccine that has proven over and over again to be safe and effective,” Elnahal told reporters at a press event Monday.

“It protects against severe outcomes and death significantly. As we are seeing hospitalizations go up across the country connected to the virus, we’re concerned that if folks don’t get this latest booster, they will not benefit from the extra protection.”

Active COVID-19 cases among VA patients are up more than 200% in the last two months, with roughly 5,500 cases in the system as of Monday morning. That number is still well below the 70,000-plus cases that VA medical centers in early 2022 amid the national pandemic.

But 306 veterans have died from COVID-19 related illnesses since June 1, according to department statistics. And officials said the ongoing national surge in cases could pose extra dangers to veterans with a host of pre-existing medical conditions.

Nearly 25,000 individuals in the department’s health care system have died from COVID-19 related conditions since March 2020, the start of the pandemic in America. That’s roughly 19 a day over the last 3.5 years, although most of those deaths came in 2021 and 2022.

Elnahal said vaccines could be available at some VA sites as soon as the end of this week. The booster will not be mandatory for any patients or staff but will be offered to as many individuals in the system as possible.

VA officials have said they are monitoring regions and individual hospitals that are seeing infection increases in case additional safety measures — such as mask mandates or visitation limits — are necessary. But Elnahal said there are no such plans now.

The CDC has said the vaccines and boosters are “the best protection against COVID-19-related hospitalization and death” as well as conditions such as long-COVID, where symptoms of the illness can linger for months or years.

The 43-page document paints a disturbing picture of failures at the homes in Menlo Park and Paramus where dozens of deaths occurred early in the outbreak. It said poor communication, lack of staff competency and other issues led to the coronavirus spreading “virtually unchecked throughout the facilities.”

Among the findings: The homes failed to group residents into cohorts according to their exposure to COVID-19, resulting in the commingling of infected and uninfected people; they didn’t properly use personal protective gear; they failed to communicate effectively internally and did not maintain improvements achieved after the U.S. Veterans Affairs department came in to help, among other issues.

“Even by the standards of the pandemic’s difficult early days, the facilities were unprepared to keep their residents safe,” the report said.

The report goes further, saying that infection control problems have continued to the present, including during the Omicron outbreaks in 2021 and 2022. The homes are not training their staff properly or monitoring compliance with infection control protocols, among other failures, the report said.

“These failures are substantial departures from generally accepted standards of care in long-term care facilities and inhibit the Veterans Homes’ ability to stop the virus from spreading inside the facilities, creating a serious risk of harm,” it said.

The facilities are operated by the state’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, each with just over 300 beds. The state reached a $53 million agreement in 2021 to settle claims that it was negligent and contributed to more than 100 deaths at the two VA homes.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy called the report a “deeply disturbing reminder” that the treatment veterans received was unacceptable. He said his administration made policy changes to improve conditions, including hiring private management for the two homes.

“However, it is clear that we have significantly more work to do,” he said in a statement.

Murphy’s administration came under harsh criticism for his handling of the pandemic in veterans homes, with Republicans calling for investigations into his management of the outbreak.

The report, noting the state’s attempts to remedy the situation, criticized it for what it called the lack of independent oversight.

“The past several years indicate that the Veterans Homes, even with the assistance of paid, outside consultants, cannot implement systematic changes to end the ongoing violations of the constitutional rights of the individuals in their care without external accountability,” the report said.

Paul da Costa, an attorney representing many of the families in the settlement with the state, said he’s spoken to some of his clients, and while they feel vindicated by the report, they’re also “extremely disappointed.”

The Justice Department also described the facilities’ cooperation with its investigation as “inadequate.”

While investigators were talking to witnesses, they were followed by state staff attorneys and facilities managers, the report noted, and officials discouraged staff from talking to the Justice Department. After the first visit, the CEO of the Paramus site told department heads that DOJ could shut them down and they should be mindful of what they say.

The governor has previously pledged a comprehensive study into his administration’s handling of the virus, launching a review last year. A report was expected by the end of this year. Murphy was reelected in 2021.

The report included a particularly tragic account of a former Marine, identified as Resident C.

Early in 2020, he was alert, talked to his family every day and led an art class. He was known to be polite and sociable. On April 4, 2020, soon after the first cases were identified in the state, his roommate was hospitalized for potentially having COVID-19. The roommate died two days later after testing positive.

“There is no evidence that Menlo Park monitored Resident C for COVID, even as his condition declined in the days after his roommate’s positive test,” the report said.

Facility staff took Resident C’s scooter from him on April 5, without explanation, according to the report, then shut the door to his room, leaving him unable to reach his buzzer to call for help or his cell phone. A day later he was noted to be confused and was administered antibiotics for pneumonia. The same day, he was yelling for help and soon developed a fever. He died April 16 of that year, the report said, with no mention of COVID-19 in his chart.

“Resident C’s family later asked the facility if Resident C’s roommate had COVID; they were told ‘no,’” the report said.

The report found that the number of deaths during the early months of the outbreak was much higher than the numbers publicly disclosed.

In April of 2020 alone, 98 Menlo Park residents and 92 Paramus residents died of all causes — roughly equal to the number of people who die in a year at the homes.

As of July 2020, the state published data showing 81 deaths at Paramus and 65 at Menlo Park. But the actual number of residents who died of COVID-19 was much higher, the report said. The reported deaths were based on the cause of death listed on a death certificate, but because COVID-19 tests were not readily available early in the pandemic, residents often died without a positive test. Universal testing didn’t start until April 20, 2020.

“It is clear that the number of deaths during COVID’s early months was substantially higher than the numbers publicly disclosed, and substantially higher than at other facilities,” the report found.

The report is based on interviews with dozens of witnesses, current and former staff, family members of residents, visits to the facilities and the review of thousands of documents.

“The spikes are concerning,” said Dr. Shereef Elnahal, VA Under Secretary for Health, in a press call with reporters on Tuesday. “Thankfully, we have not seen signs of it overwhelming the system yet, but it’s something we monitor every day. And we want to make sure folks are aware that we are in the middle of another wave of COVID-19 with a new variant.”

As of Tuesday morning, VA officials reported 4,388 active cases of COVID-19 across 134 VA medical centers across America. That’s up from just 1,749 one month ago. Six sites are dealing with more than 100 active cases of the virus, including VA hospitals in Orlando and Bay Pines in Florida. Two other sites in the state — Tampa and Gainesville — have 97 active cases.

The spike in cases mirrors national trends. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that hospital admissions across the country for COVID-19 related illnesses are up more than 14% in the last week. Deaths of patients with the virus are up 10% over the same timeframe.

However, the total number of COVID-19 cases across the country and within VA are a small fraction of the infection rate during the height of the national pandemic, which began in spring 2020 and officially ended last May. In mid-August 2022, for example, VA reported more than 15,000 active cases of the virus among patients. In January 2022, the total topped 77,000 cases.

VA health officials earlier this year rescinded their mask mandates for all visitors and patients at department hospitals, put in place in an attempt to limit transmission of the virus. Elnahal said individuals may want to reconsider wearing masks at medical centers “on a personal basis” in response to the recent surge, but no mandates are expected for now.

He also said that health officials are better prepared to react to increased COVID caseloads now than in the past.

“Every medical center has a pandemic preparedness plan that accounts for their experiences during the pandemic, which was much more of an improvisation than a plan during the pandemic,” he said. “If we need to have more capacity, I’m confident we’ll be able to do that wherever we need to.”

At least 24,852 patients in the VA medical system have died from illnesses related to COVID-19 since March 2020. That’s a rate of about 20 individuals a day.

However, many of those deaths came at the height of the pandemic. Since Jan. 1 of this year, VA officials have reported 1,106 deaths linked to the virus, a rate of about five a day.

The contentious, marathon mark-up before the House Armed Services Committee featured 14-plus hours of escalating partisan fights over the bill, which outlines more than $800 billion in spending priorities and policy changes for the military in fiscal 2024.

Many of the fights mirrored provisions championed by Republicans in the defense appropriations bill unveiled a week earlier, and several lawmakers hinted even more could come in full chamber discussion on the measures expected next month.

“I hope we go far beyond this in the floor debate,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., author of several of the most divisive measures in Wednesday’s mark-up.

Democratic lawmakers on the panel repeatedly blasted the arguments as a waste of time and little more than political posturing for GOP members intent on crafting re-election campaign points.

“It blows my mind that we have been sitting here for hours talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Wash. “If the military is going to be successful, it has to evolve with society in the 21st century. We are more diverse and we are more inclusive.”

But they also largely supported the final product, which passed out of committee on a 58-1 vote. Democrats praised the measure as critical to supporting troops and military families, ignoring the problematic provisions in their rounds of late-night celebratory press releases.

The authorization bill includes a host of routine military instructions, including a 5.2% pay raise for troops next January, renewal of dozens of enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses, and financial help for the lowest-ranking service members.

But during committee debate on Wednesday, Republicans added a lengthy list of conservative priorities via party-line votes, moves they say are needed to rein in political posturing by military leaders.

Among the list: banning defense officials from sponsoring drag shows on military bases, eliminating funding for diversity training and diversity-related jobs, banning “critical race theory” at service academies and requiring that parents have more say in how Defense Department schools craft lesson plans.

And even though last year’s authorization bill ended the military’s requirement that troops get vaccinated against COVID-19, Republicans renewed the fight in this year’s bill, demanding financial protections for troops booted out for refusing vaccinations and blocking future similar inoculation requirements.

The moves “are necessary to prevent the Department of Defense from doubling down on the wrongful treatment of our service members,” said Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., during debate over the COVID-19 provisions.

Whether any of the provisions can survive negotiations with the Democratic-controlled Senate remains to be seen. The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to unveil its draft of the authorization bill later this week.

House appropriators included similar provisions — and a ban on Defense Department abortion assistance — in their budget bill. Senate appropriators have not yet unveiled their plans, but several key Democrats have already publicly decried the House plans.