One Year & 160 Lives Changed Forever!

By Col. Kevin Bouren, US Army, USMA 1997
Chief, US Army COVID Reinstatement & Reconciliation Task Force

One year ago, the Bouren Family’s service to the Nation was restored when Secretary of War Pete Hegseth swore me in and charged me with the awesome responsibility of restoring the service and honor of those who were discarded and purged from our ranks during COVID.

Thank you to President Trump for keeping his promise. I offer my deepest gratitude to Secretary Hegseth for entrusting me with this high honor.

Indeed, this is the most consequential mission in my three decades of service! I am seeing an enormously positive multi-generational impact every day!

As a result of the tremendous and tireless efforts of my superb Task Force, I am excited to announce that we have reinstated 160 Soldiers BACK into the US Army and we are providing white glove treatment to another 400+ Soldiers currently in the reinstatement process.

That’s 160 Soldiers and their Families who were unlawfully separated.

That’s 160 Soldiers in whom the Army had invested millions of dollars, including countless deployments, intense training, valuable education, and a wealth of experience.

That’s 160 precious souls who remained steadfast against unrelenting pressure, egregious threats of jail and court martial, and treatment that was wholly inconsistent with our Army Values.

Their moral courage to risk it all…their principled leadership to hold the line and truly care for their troops…their unwavering commitment to their Constitutional oath…these are some of the reasons why we must have these Warriors back in our ranks.

The future of our Army relies on leaders of character who have the moral courage and discernment to understand the times and choose the harder right over the easier wrong.

I offer my highest praise to the team who is making this happen—the COVID Reinstatement & Reconciliation Task Force (R2TF).

A year ago, I sat alone in my office and prayed that God would assemble the right team, and He delivered exceedingly and abundantly more than I could ask or imagine! All glory to God!

The R2TF is fully committed to achieving our Commander-in-Chief’s intent and the Department of War wants to fight for your talent.

This Task Force is comprised of faithful men and women of the highest caliber with an unflinching resolve to see this mission through!

If you were negatively impacted by the unlawfully implemented COVID policies and would like us to help restore your service, please send us an email at SA.COVID.TaskForce@army.mil

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

One Year & 160 Lives Changed Forever!

One year ago, the Bouren Family’s service to the Nation was restored when @SecWar @PeteHegseth swore me in and charged me with the awesome responsibility of restoring the service and honor of those who were discarded and purged from our… https://t.co/8naK11rkvl pic.twitter.com/BQSp1gv7V2

— Kevin Bouren (@KevinBouren) October 2, 2026