Hegseth Orders ‘Lessons Learned’ Review of Biden-Era Covid Vaccine Mandate

ARLINGTON, Virginia — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is doubling down on his department’s effort to erase the legacy of the military’s Covid-19 vaccination mandate, which led to the dismissal of nearly 9,000 service members during the administration of President Biden.A new Pentagon panel will compile lessons learned from the 2020-2023 mandate and suggest accountability actions. The panel has seven months to complete its work, which will be declassified and released to the public.“We must do everything in our power to ensure that the Department does not repeat the same mistakes in the future,” Mr. Hegseth wrote in a memo to Pentagon leaders and senior commanders in the field Tuesday. “Your support will ensure we restore the Warrior Ethos through institutional learning, improving our readiness for the future.”All of which is music to the ears of the executive director of Feds For Freedom, a grassroots non-profit that advocates for federal workers.“The lack of accountability is the greatest national security threat there is,” Stephanie Weidle said Thursday.Feds for Freedom sued the Biden administration in 2021 over the executive order mandating vaccination for all federal workers and contractors, a case which went all the way to the Supreme Court. Last summer, Feds for Freedom settled with the Department of Justice to purge all vaccine records of federal workers. The government also agreed not to take any adverse action against federal employees or contractors due to their vaccination status.In January, Ms. Weidle and others met with Pentagon officials to urge them to include civilian employees and contractors in any after-action review. “They’re 100 percent leading the way,” she said. “I have been very impressed.”Ms. Weidle is the wife of a Department of Defense civilian employee.Pentagon memos released this past week show that Mr. Hegseth ordered the National Academy of Public Administration to conduct a full review of the Biden-era Defense Department’s actions in mandating the Covid vaccine. Additionally, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, Anthony Tata, will chair an internal panel composed of military and civilian employees to gather documentation and compile recommendations.This week’s effort builds on those the department has taken since Mr. Hegseth took over at the Pentagon, including reviewing or rescinding the discharges of service members separated for vaccination refusal. Mr. Biden’s defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, ended the vaccination mandate in 2023 after he was required to do so as part of a defense funding bill passed by Congress.The Biden administration had argued that the mandate was necessary to preserve the health and combat readiness of the nation’s troops in the face of a pandemic that killed 1.2 million Americans and sickened more than 111 million. Last month, the Pentagon reinstated mandatory flu shots for all incoming recruits after a flu outbreak sickened nearly 300 recruits at a boot camp in Texas.Estimates say nearly 9,000 service members were dismissed due to the Covid vaccine mandate — 3,000 of them receiving less than honorable discharges — but Ms. Weidle says those numbers do not tell the full story. Her group estimates an additional 80,000 people left Defense Department service of their own accord, retiring or resigning rather than take the Covid vaccine or try to fight their removal.“People just couldn’t take it anymore,” she said.Feds for Freedom says by winning its past injunction against Covid vaccination requirements it kept 400,000 workers at their jobs across the executive branch. Now she hopes the NAPA review and the internal panel will deliver accountability.“I know it will find there was wrongdoing on the part of military leaders,” she said. “I know it will find that people’s rights were violated.”Mr. Hegseth ordered the final report of the internal panel be made public no later than February 2027.“Declassifying and releasing materials related to the now defunct Department of Defense coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine mandate is essential to learn the lessons of this national security event to ensure we do not make the mistakes of the past,” Mr. Hegseth said in the order declassifying the final review.“No one has been called out publicly for their actions during Covid,” Ms. Weidle said. “That is the tiniest part of accountability that could happen.”“The public shaming does go a long way,” she added.

Hegseth Orders ‘Lessons Learned’ Review of Biden-Era Covid Vaccine Mandate

Hegseth Orders ‘Lessons Learned’ Review of Biden-Era Covid Vaccine Mandate

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