Pentagon pauses HIV-positive recruit training while signaling it may soon reinstate a ban on their enlistment

(CNN) — The Pentagon has ordered the military command that processes new recruits to hold off on initial training for people who are HIV-positive and recently joined the military, CNN has learned, saying that a decision on reinstating a Defense Department ban on their enlistment is “expected in the next few weeks.”

The Office of the Secretary of Defense directed the pause, according to guidance sent out Friday by US Military Entrance Processing Command and viewed by CNN, after a federal appeals court last month shelved a lower-court ruling from 2024 that prohibited the Pentagon from rejecting recruits solely because of their asymptomatic HIV status.

The appeals court has not yet issued a final decision in the case, though the guidance says the Pentagon’s Accession Policy office is working on the issue. A decision from the Pentagon’s personnel office, which could reinstate the previous longstanding ban on enlistment that had been Defense Department policy before the 2024 ruling, is expected soon.

“While awaiting the decision, we are pausing shipping any HIV+ applicants and will follow-up in the coming weeks,” the email says. The Pentagon referred questions on Friday to the Justice Department.

It was not immediately clear how many recruits who had already signed contracts to serve in the military will be prevented from beginning their training as a result of the new policy.

A federal judge ruled in 2024 that the military could not turn away enlistees solely because they had HIV, saying modern science has “transformed the treatment of HIV” and that “asymptomatic HIV-positive service members with undetectable viral loads … are capable of performing all of their military duties, including worldwide deployment.”

Medication can suppress HIV in individuals to undetectable levels; people who are virally suppressed or undetectable are not at risk of transmitting the virus through sex or syringe sharing, according to the CDC. There is also a 1% or less chance of people with virally suppressed HIV from transmitting the virus through pregnancy and childbirth, the CDC says.

The 2024 ruling came after an intense, yearslong legal battle, starting when three HIV-positive people were barred from joining or rejoining the military due to their medical diagnoses. One of the people, Isaiah Wilkins, was serving in the Georgia National Guard when he attempted to transition to the Army Reserve but could not after learning he was HIV-positive.

The ruling in August 2024 was specifically for new enlistees to the military who are HIV positive and asymptomatic.

“This is a victory not only for me but for other people living with HIV who want to serve,” Wilkins said in a statement after the court’s ruling in 2024. “As I’ve said before, giving up on my dream to serve my country was never an option. I am eager to apply to enlist in the Army without the threat of a crippling discriminatory policy.”

The government immediately appealed the decision, Greg Nevins, senior counsel with Lambda Legal and one of the lawyers involved with the case, told CNN on Friday. And last month, the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals decided to pause the lower court’s ruling, giving way for the Pentagon to do what it wished while the legal fight unfolds.

“They’ve been admitting people into the military since August of 2024, and we didn’t hear about any problems or any issues,” Nevins said.

In court documents, the Department of Justice argued that the military “suffers harm” when it is “required by court order to accept individuals who do not qualify” under its policies.

“That’s pretty much an admission that you don’t have any real harm,” Nevins said of the government’s argument. “It’s the idea that you have to admit someone that the rules say you could exclude, that’s the ultimate tacit admission that there hasn’t been any real detriment to military readiness.”

Under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon has tightened restrictions around service members and new recruits. One of the first moves of the Trump administration last year was to ban transgender service members from the military. And in July this year, Hegseth released a memo listing out conditions that require a waiver from a military service secretary in order to be qualified, and a list of conditions ineligible for a waiver.

In 2022, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a new policy following court rulings that allowed HIV-positive service members to deploy for missions, commission as officers and continue serving, reversing prior rules that meant those troops would be kicked out of the military. However, that policy didn’t change the existing rules on HIV-positive people joining the military, only impacting those who tested positive after putting on the uniform.

A study published last year by the Military Health System found that between 1990 to 2024, 11,280 service members were diagnosed with HIV among active duty, National Guard, and reserve forces. The rate of diagnoses declined during that time, the study found, though there was an increase in diagnoses among male service members under 30 years old.

Male service members made up 96.3% of all HIV diagnoses, the study said.

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