NOVEMBER 21, 2025 — On Oct. 2, 2025, U.S. Army Col. Kevin Bouren was administered the oath of office by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, formally returning Bouren to active duty. The event concluded his three-year separation from the service, a period initiated by the Department of Defense’s 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Bouren, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an officer with multiple advanced degrees, had a promising career trajectory that included an assignment to the Joint Staff. In 2021, his military service was interrupted after his request for a medical exemption from the mandate was denied.
As a result of the policy, Bouren submitted what he described as an involuntary retirement. “My departure was one of thousands across the DoD related to the unlawful mandate,” he said.
The Civilian Interval
During his time away from the Army, Bouren made an unlikely career move. He began working in filmmaking as a co-producer and set chaplain, managing logistics and operations for films he worked on, while also mentoring the cast and crew. It allowed him to apply his leadership experience in a non-military context while integrating his faith.
“I called them my Soldiers,” said Bouren. “As the set chaplain, getting to lead morning devotionals and minister to the cast and crew was wonderful.”
It was a period of sustained service. However, it was service outside the wire. Bouren maintained a stated desire to return to service, which he always felt was his professional calling. In early 2025, when the call for COVID reinstatements came, Bouren said, “God called me to military service, and there was nothing that was going to get between me and going back in the Army. I felt like I had a lot left to offer.”
Reinstatement and New Mandate
As Bouren pursued reinstatement, he said his process required navigating complex bureaucratic channels with a lot of uncertainty. The system was “unprepared for my specific situation,” he said. As he progressed through the process, his goal expanded beyond his own return to improving the administrative process for others facing similar challenges.
After his formal return, Bouren was designated the Army’s COVID Reinstatement Task Force Lead. The appointment placed Bouren in a leadership role, “directly addressing the consequences of the unlawful policies that led to his separation,” he said. He oversees the reintegration of returning service members and manages personnel policy adjustments resulting from the pandemic-era mandates. He said the task force focuses on intentional and personal outreach that offers guidance rather than bureaucracy.
“We’ve been directed to provide red carpet treatment,” Bouren said at the ceremony. “And it is my great joy to do so. Our warriors of conscience shouldn’t have to navigate this alone. We’re here to remove barriers and support them through every step.”
The success of the renewed process was publicly demonstrated when Bouren recently presided over the reinstatement and promotion ceremony for Capt. Mark Bashaw, an officer, Bouren said, “had also been unlawfully separated under the same policies.” The event demonstrated the improvements to the administrative process that Bouren had advocated to ease the reintegrating of service members affected by the unlawful COVID policies.
“For some, wholeness means coming back into the Army,” Bouren said. “For others, it means having their records corrected so they can move forward. Our job is to meet them where they are and to help right the wrongs of the past.”
By Lt. Col. Orlandon Howard
U.S. Army Communication and Outreach Office