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GOP lawmakers target diversity training, COVID rules in defense bill
The annual defense authorization bill debate in the House focused mainly on hot-button social issues.
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Coronavirus | COVID-19 Updates
Veterans Affairs drops mask requirement for all agency medical offices
Masks will still be mandated for some high-risk areas or facilities with rising virus numbers.
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VA officials lagging in goal of housing 38,000 distressed vets this year
A spike in Covid-19 cases at the start of the year delayed some efforts to get more veterans into homes.
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Veterans cemeteries will be fully open to visitors this Memorial Day
Public attendance at ceremonies had been limited the last two years by the coronavirus pandemic.
![The 109th Airlift Wing began administering COVID-19 vaccines on March 10, 2021. (Master Sgt. Christine Wood/Air Force)](https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/resizer/FA6nlgdJOueARzyEYUlQV5t3yUg=/800x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/GV7XM2Z4TFH6HAQKWAJOUL4XFQ.jpg)
Bill would mandate honorable discharge for troops booted for refusing COVID vaccine mandate
The measure would also upgrade the discharge status of troops already kicked out of the service for refusing to get vaccinated.
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Audit: Urgent response lacking in COVID-19 outbreak at veterans home
The deadly coronavirus outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans' Home in northern Illinois killed 36 veterans.
![Master Sgt. Jeffrey Delorey, a medic with the 157th Medical Group, gives Tech. Sgt. Ravi Madahar, a boom operator with the 157th Operations Group, a Moderna booster shot Dec. 22, 2021 at Pease Air National Guard Base, New Hampshire. (Staff Sgt. Victoria Nelson/Air National Guard)](https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/resizer/fcL7rSzm-0eoHFtlWEhAXpmiZxc=/800x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/QABOUPEDCBH6TEFQFPHXFXVQYY.jpg)
Troops allege military’s COVID vaccine mandate is a ‘religious purge’
Two airmen and a soldier appeared on a podcast hosted by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida.
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The vast majority of troops kicked out for COVID vaccine refusal received general discharges
“I can tell you there are no operational impacts across the force for readiness,” Marine Corps Lt. Gen. David Ottignon told lawmakers.
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Trump officials gave improper national security loans to trucking firm, lawmakers allege
The report accuses officials of overruling Pentagon recommendations to give $700 million in low-interest loans to YRC Worldwide Inc., now known as Yellow Corp.
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VA increasing research into long-term COVID illnesses while bracing for more short-term cases
Active coronavirus cases among department patients have increased over the last month.
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With COVID mission over, Pentagon plans for next pandemic
U.S. military medical teams deployed during the coronavirus pandemic brought back lessons as the Defense Department looks to see what worked and what didn't.
![Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine sit on a table before being administered at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Jan. 28, 2022. (Airman 1st Class Anna Nolte/Air Force)](https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/resizer/HZJRW0Weieyl6qu4B3JQgZu0GOg=/800x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/T2PW3XZHG5ECBAI2LMXHZQUTAM.jpg)