Lance Cpl. Carlos Benitez, assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, receives a COVID-19 booster shot aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) on March 23, 2022. US Navy Photo
The Department of Defense will not issue a separate policy to bring back service members who were separated for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a top Pentagon personnel chief testified to Congress on Tuesday. Read More
COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are pre-staged for a shot event in the hangar bay aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Dec. 28, 2021. US Navy Photo
SAN DIEGO – The Navy will no longer consider COVID-19 vaccination status when making decisions about sailor deployments – a reversal of more than a year of service policy, according to new Navy guidance released this week. Read More
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Alexander Roth administers the COVID-19 vaccine booster to Aircrew Survival Equipmentman Airman Kiana Briley aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), in the Philippine Sea, on Dec. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo
The Pentagon has offered limited guidance in the three weeks since Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin officially rescinded the COVID-19 vaccination mandate, leaving service members with questions about their statuses. Read More
Seaman Apprentice Johnnese Poomaihealani, from Waianae, Hawaii, receives a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot during a shot event in the foc’sle aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Jan. 3, 2022. US Navy Photo
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin officially rescinded the COVID-19 vaccine mandate Tuesday evening in a memo, stopping any more military separations due to refusal to get the shot series. Read More
A Navy Corpsman prepares a vaccine booster. US Navy Photo
The Navy separated 25 active duty sailors between Nov. 28 and Dec. 28 due to their failure to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the service told USNI News. Those sailors are likely the last sea service members to receive approved separations over COVID-19 vaccine refusal under the Pentagon’s prior vaccination mandate. Read More
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Gregzon Fontanilla, from Guam, prepares a COVID-19 vaccine aboard the America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) on May 10, 2022. US Navy Photo
The Pentagon has no ready answers on how the Department of Defense would implement pending legislation that would allow service members to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine without facing separation, officials said this week. Read More
The following is the Congressional Research Service report, Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills: FY1961-FY2019. Read More
Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 2nd Class Jonathan Morel, assigned to USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112), uses a radar tracking system to track surface contacts on Jan. 30, 2017. US Navy Photo
Three congressionally mandated studies outline what the Navy of 2030 could look like and present three very different takes on how the service could tackle its roles and responsibilities in the future. Read More
The following is the July 13, 2016 letter from Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on the proposed Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. Read More
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter speaks with reporters at theU.S. Air Force Academy after touring the campus in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 12, 2016. DoD Photo
This post has been updated with a statement from the Senate Armed Services Committee.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says the House version of the Defense Authorization bill to shift money from emergency war spending to the base budget is gimmickry that is “gambling with warfighting money at a time of war.” Read More
