Unvaxxed: Former Space Force officer increasingly frustrated over broken reinstatement system

Joshua Zermeno, a former officer in the U.S. Space Force, detailed in a previous interview with WorldNetDaily how his opposition to the 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate led to his forced departure from the military after 13 years of honorable service, and also his difficulty in rejoining the military now that President Donald Trump is commander-in-chief.

Now, even though Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth have promised to restore service members adversely affected by the shot mandate, he tells WND that, when it comes to the military bureaucracy tasked with actually implementing Trump and Hegseth’s mandate, the foot-dragging process almost seems “intentionally designed to discourage people from returning to service.”

Zermeno explained this painstaking process, noting that many other former service members are experiencing similar problems. Although the War Department pledged on Sept. 3 to establish a task force to assist individuals seeking reinstatement into the military, nearly two months later no such task force has been created. Like so many others, he has been left to essentially fight this battle alone.

Back in July, Zermeno reached out to more than 30 recruiters to start the medical screening process required for reinstatement. However, three months later, those efforts have still not yielded any success.

Finally, after contacting the office of Under Secretary of the Air Force Matt Lohmeier, a representative from the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR) contacted Zermeno in September. “[The representative] apologized for the delay and assured me that he would put me in contact with a recruiter,” Zermeno told WND.

A recruiter reached out to Zermeno in the week following, acknowledging that this was his first reinstatement case and expressing uncertainty about the procedure. “I had to explain to him that my reinstatement package was complete and only required a medical screening to begin the review process,” said the former Space Force officer.

After providing his medical history, the recruiter commented that Zermeno would likely require medical waivers to move forward, indicating the process might take several months.

“I attempted to clarify the idea of ‘retention standards’ to him, but he was unable to understand what I was telling him and persisted in treating me as if I were a new applicant,” Zermeno said. “After that, he went radio silent on me.”

Then on Monday, Oct. 20, Zermeno informed his AFBCMR point of contact about the recruiter’s failure to communicate, and requested alternative options. “[This individual] responded quickly and promised to escalate the matter to the Air Force Recruiting Service,” he said. Indeed, “A senior master sergeant from AFRS reached out to me on the same day to take charge of my medical screening.”

“I then got an email detailing the DODMERB (Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board) procedure, which enables me to submit my medical history and arrange appointments with authorized civilian providers to obtain medical clearance,” Zermeno explained to WND. The initial recruiter contacted him during this period, but ultimately proved to be of little help in the process, only asking Zermeno to “keep him updated” about his case.

“After submitting my medical documentation to DODMERB on Oct. 21, my point of contact at AFBCMR (Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records) notified me that it would take about 30 days before I would be contacted to start arranging medical appointments,” he shared. “This meant that it could take more than another month before I could see a doctor, so I reached out to the senior master sergeant at AFRS to inform him of this timeline.”

Zermeno also said he would be willing to travel to a military installation to speed up the process, even if it required traveling out of state. He was simply informed that the options would be looked into.

Expressing his frustration with the snail’s pace to WND, Zermeno said, “My reinstatement application has been pending with the AFBCMR since Aug. 22, 2025, and my package won’t be reviewed until I’m approved for the medical screening.”

Yet his “reinstatement packet,” Zermeno told WND, “includes more than 100 pages detailing punishments, personal damages and official records that need to be reviewed and corrected, irrespective of medical clearance.”

“Should it be this difficult for someone to get back in? They had no problem kicking us out.”