The Army on Wednesday said it is approaching its second phase of separation with service members experiencing gender dysphoria, an initiative that follows the Trump administration’s directive of prioritizing military excellence and readiness.
A new memo issued by Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll and obtained by Fox News Digital outlines two phases in the separation process, the first of which will be completed at the beginning of June.
The first phase, which ends June 6, allows service members who have been diagnosed with or have a history of gender dysphoria to identify themselves and volunteer to separate from the military branch, an Army spokesperson told Fox Digital.
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Once a service member notifies an immediate commander, that commander will then notify a superior, initiating the separation process.
Soldiers who reached a threshold for years of service qualify for voluntary separation pay or double the pay a service member would get by separating from the Army for various reasons, the spokesperson said.
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However, they will not qualify for separation pay if they have not reached the years of service, if there is pending administrative action against them or if they are facing Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) code infractions.
In the case of pending administrative action against them, their discharge may also not be honorable.
The Army said those who volunteer for separation, but do not qualify, will still be separated and afforded benefits; they will only forfeit the additional separation pay, according to the spokesperson.
After the June 6 deadline for voluntary separation, the Army will enter the involuntary separation phase.
In the second phase, “there will be means of identifying those who did not want to self-identify,” the spokesperson said.
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The spokesperson said soldiers’ records, prior to the new policy, reflected service members’ sex at birth.
Once they are identified, a separation process will begin.
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“Regardless of potential outcome, every service member will be treated with dignity and respect, however this shakes out,” the spokesperson said.
Driscoll’s guidance comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order Jan. 27, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth heeded Trump’s executive order with a memo outlining what the Department of Defense needed to do to comply.
