Remi Ullmann

•@USNavy Under Secretary @HungCao_VA visited Sailors aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower earlier this week. He thanked them for what they do and let them know he always has their backs. He told them: "I'm never above you, I'm never below you, I'm always right beside you." 🫡 🇺🇸

🚨@USNavy Under Secretary @HungCao_VA thanks USS John P. Murtha Sailors who safely brought back the @NASA Orion capsule and #ArtemisII crew after their historic mission to the🌖. He also met with and thanked USS Cincinnati Sailors after their eight-month deployment to @INDOPACOM.

🚨 @SECNAV Issues Guidance Putting the Navy Bureaucracy on Notice In the 15 months since @POTUS issued his COVID reinstatement executive order, the lawyers, leaders, and our service branches have attempted to slow-roll, resist, and minimize the response required by @SECWAR. Mr. Hung Cao, has changed all that while putting the resistors on notice with a single - and powerful - message to the force. This message cuts through the bureaucracy in ways we have not seen in many years. While the guidance is great for those harmed, the message serves as a much more significant indicator to the force that Mr. Cao is here to act boldly, to prioritize principle over bureaucratic consensus, and to destroy the status quo. As you recall, the military executed a rapid and herculean effort to discharge service members as quickly as possible over the COVID-19 mandates. Many of those discharged over the COVID-19 mandates were given only days to move out of base housing before being unceremoniously (and involuntarily) discharged. The Institution grants serious offenders (even alleged murderers) months to properly walk through all legal processes so that their Constitutional rights are protected. But for those who could not take a COVID-19 shot, these legal standards and constitutional principles were thrown out the window while the bureaucracy moved at speeds that it had never moved before. After being ordered to reverse these discharges in January of 2025, subordinate military commanders had somehow lost that once readily-available rapid-response capability. Now, 15 months after the reinstatement executive order, the bureaucratically-induced struggle session was finally ended within the Navy by decisive action from Mr. Hung Cao. The services had attempted to minimize restoration to only those who could demonstrably prove they were INVOLUNTARILY discharged for not taking the shot. This meant that only about 8000 service members had the potential of receiving backpay, service credit time, back bonuses, advancements, promotions via special selection boards, or repayment of incurred medical expenses. However, by our estimates over 90,000 service members left “voluntarily” via either coercion, letting their contracts expire, resigning, or being denied requests for reenlistment. If the bureaucracy had their way, none of these individuals would have had access to those additional benefits of reinstatement. For the Navy, Mr. Cao reversed this narrow interpretation, stating that even those who “resigned or departed from service upon the expiration of their service commitment solely due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate” are eligible for these benefits so long as they provide a documented “demonstration of the unjust nature of their discharge.” Mr. Cao then lists numerous ways a service member can prove the injustice. The government added insult to injury in 2021 and 2022 by attempting to recoup bonuses from the service members they were kicking out. I had a friend who had received $70k as a department head signing bonus, except that after denying his religious accommodation, they then refused to allow him to execute his PCS orders to his department head job. They then claimed that my friend was in breach of contract for not executing his orders (which our leaders themselves precluded), and then slapped a $70k debt on him that they sent to collections after he had processed out. The lawyers and subordinate leaders in the Pentagon resisted a reversal of this policy, but again, Mr. Cao is having none of that. In his message he stated that “Service Members unjustly discharged… who were required to repay unearned portions of their bonus, incentive pay or similar benefit upon discharge, and who are NOT seeking reinstatement, may be entitled to discharge of debt.” The Board for the Correction of Naval Records (BCNR) attempted to interpret the guidance from POTUS and SECWAR as narrowly as possible. They issued nearly 100% denials, in whole or in part, of the first batch of COVID-19 reinstatement requests after the executive order. Mr. Cao is not putting up with this narrow approach that directly contradicts commander’s intent. In his message, Mr. Cao has directed that “in reviewing requests for reinstatement and/or relief for negatively impacted current or former service members, the Board for the Correction of Naval Records (BCNR) should EXERCISE BROAD DISCRETION, consistent with references and this ALNAV.” Furthermore, Mr. Cao is holding the BCNR accountable to report their decisions to all proper entities, to the newly established COVID CELL, and to the petitioners themselves. He also stated that any full or partial denial of a COVID-related BCNR request would be subject to review by ASN (M&RA), Mr. @benkohlmann, for final action. Of significance for COVID cases, the BCNR can no longer hide behind long processing times that often extend longer than 18 months. Mr. Cao has directed that the BCNR “provide bi-weekly reports to the DON COVID Reinstatement and Reconciliation Task Force (R2TF) of the status of requests for relief”… which will “include docket number, petitioner’s name, service, current or pre-discharge rank and active or reserve status, discharge date and characterization” and the dates throughout the process for all BCNR actions from petitioner submission until final adjudication. Last, but by no means least, is the care that Mr. Cao is directing our leaders to have for the service members that they had harmed. With the same speed and precision that they were coerced, abused, and discharged, the bureaucracy must now hand-walk each case through the reinstatement process. Mr. Cao directed that “the Navy and Marine Corp will ensure concierge treatment of all current and former service members who seek a return to service and record reconciliation.” He uses the word concierge 4 times in his message to emphasize the importance of the individual care that must be taken with each of our brothers and sisters in arms. He also directed that “this streamlined, expedited process will include a warm handoff at each stage until the reinstated Service Member receives applicable reimbursements, advancement or promotion, and ultimate duty station or reserve unit assignment.” It is not hard to decipher the significance of the concierge treatment during the reinstatement process or why this treatment is so intentionally directed by Mr. Cao. After Biden-era leaders (the vast majority of whom are still in service) violated constitutional rights by participating in rubber stamped denials of thousands of religious, administrative, and medical accommodation requests, the concierge treatment of the very same harmed service members is more than poetic justice… It is an overt demonstration that for the United States Military, just as it is with each individual, true repentance is the only path to redemption.” See the full message here: mynavyhr.navy.mil/Portals/55/Mes…

Clear the way. 🇺🇸 💥 On National EOD Day, we celebrate the specialized force that ensures warfighting readiness remains at the highest level. Navy EOD technicians operate at the intersection of technical expertise and tactical grit to neutralize threats and protect the joint force. They stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before them, maintaining the highest standards of excellence to protect the fleet and the nation. @SECNAV @officialnavyeod @USFleetForces #NationalEODDay #NavyEOD #USNavy #Warfighting #EOD