Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES—Hegseth orders review of discharge characterizations for service members separated for non-vaccination, (Dec 17, 2025)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

Former service members do not need to act; the department will look into the possibility of upgrades on its own.

Service members who were discharged for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine may see their discharge status change following a review ordered by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. According to a Pentagon announcement, Secretary Hegseth ordered the military services to provide relief for service members who received a general discharge but who “might have deserved an honorable one.”

"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," Hegseth wrote in the memorandum to Pentagon leadership and others.

No action needed. Nothing is needed from the former service members—the services will identify those who received a general discharge, rather than an Honorable discharge, for refusing to be vaccinated under the department’s mandate and will fix them “where appropriate.”

As to whether the fix is appropriate, the release notes: “In some cases, boards may find that a service member's discharge was characterized as general due to other issues, such as having misconduct in their records. While these service members may not receive relief through the proactive review, the department encourages them to apply to the review boards directly and provide any new evidence that may support a discharge upgrade.”

Notification. Upgraded service members will be notified by U.S. postal mail. For service members who have already requested an upgrade, those applications will be expedited for consideration alongside the new cases considered under this proactive review. The Pentagon noted that discharge characterizations for about 900 service members were already upgraded prior to this new effort.

News: PublicEmployees AgencyNews Covid19 Discharge