Navy Under Secretary Hung Cao says personnel discharged over vaccine mandate were ‘failed’
Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao emphasized that the Department of War is committed to "righting past wrongs" and welcoming back former service members who were dismissed during the pandemic.
"To the sailors and marines who were wrongfully discharged during COVID, we failed you," Hung said in a video posted on X. "We will never allow this to happen again, not on my watch. We are ready for you to come back, and we want to correct your records."
Cao, the Department of the Navy’s chief operating and chief management officer, overseeing roughly one million Navy, Marine Corps and civilian personnel, acknowledged the impact of the mandate on those it forced out.
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Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao appeared in a video discussing the Navy’s apology letter to former service members. (U.S. Navy)
"We are righting this wrong and it starts with this formal letter of apology," he said.
President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14184 shortly after returning to office last January, directing federal agencies to identify service members affected by the former vaccine requirement and take steps to reinstate them or restore certain benefits.
The order applies to former members of the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force and Coast Guard who were discharged solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is reviewing discharges tied to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate and working to correct military records. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The former secretary of defense mandated in 2021 that all service members receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a policy that was rescinded in 2023.
"The military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received," Trump's executive order states.
The Department of War issued guidance to all the secretaries of military departments to contact former service members with information about potential reinstatement and to correct their discharge records.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January 2025, directing the review of military discharges tied to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. (Al Drago/Reuters)
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 8,000 service members were separated after the Biden administration’s Department of Defense issued the vaccination mandate.
"It is unconscionable that thousands of former Service members who held true to their personal and religious convictions were not just separated, but separated with general (under honorable conditions), rather than honorable, discharge characterizations," Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a December memo. "While many have applied for and received relief from our Military Department review boards, I believe the onus is on us to make this right."
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Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao acknowledged the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on service members dismissed from the military. (U.S. Navy)
Hegseth said he directed a proactive review of personnel records to identify individuals involuntarily discharged solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and facilitate appropriate discharge upgrades.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Navy for additional information.
-->Michael Sinkewicz is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to michael.sinkewicz@fox.com
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