Navy apologizes to personnel ‘unjustly removed’ over COVID vaccine mandate

The Department of the Navy on Friday issued a letter of apology to former service members “unjustly discharged” from the service due to the COVID vaccination mandate under the Biden administration.

Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao stressed that the War Department is committed to “righting the wrongs of the past” and welcoming back former service members laid off during the pandemic.

“To the Sailors and Marines who were wrongfully terminated during COVID, we failed you,” Hung said in a video posted on

Cao, the head of operations and management of the Navy Department, which oversees about a million Navy, Marine Corps and civilian personnel, acknowledged the impact of the mandate on those he expelled.

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Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao appeared in a video discussing the Navy’s apology letter to former service members. (US 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 old vaccination 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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War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is reviewing discharges related to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate and working to correct military records. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The former Secretary of Defense required in 2021 that all military personnel receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a policy that was repealed in 2023.

“The military has unfairly fired those who refused the vaccine, regardless of years of service to our nation, after failing to provide many of them with an exemption they should have received,” Trump’s executive order states.

The War Department issued directives to all military department secretaries to contact former service members with information about possible reintegration and to correct their discharge records.

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January 2025, ordering a review of military layoffs related to the COVID-19 vaccination 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 true to their personal and religious beliefs were not only separated, but separated with general (under honorable conditions) rather than honorable qualifications,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a December memo. “While many have requested and received a waiver from the Military Department review boards, I believe it is our responsibility to remedy the situation.”

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Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao acknowledged the impact of the COVID-19 vaccination mandate on service members discharged from the military. (US Navy)

Hegseth said he directed a proactive review of personnel records to identify individuals involuntarily terminated solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and facilitate appropriate discharge upgrades.

Fox News Digital has contacted the Navy for additional information.