The Department of Defense on Thursday walked back a requirement that military members who left over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate say they weren't coerced to leave in order to return with full benefits.

The announcement followed a report from Just the News on Friday about former military personnel who left the service over the mandate receiving a chance to return with the same rank and pay, but only if they stated their exit wasn’t due to coercion. Several service members said they couldn't attest to that following offers from the Air National Guard, Air Force, and Space Force.

The defense undersecretary for personnel posted the announcement on X and included a DOD website link to a page on reinstatement for former military members.

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention," the undersecretary said in a repost of an Air Force veteran who said she couldn't encourage former military members to say they weren't coerced to leave over the vaccine mandate. "No former Service member will be asked to say they were not coerced if they want to apply for reinstatement after voluntarily leaving the military to avoid taking a #COVID19 vaccine."