Transgender service members can re-enlist if their service contracts expire while the Defense Department continues studying the implementation of President Trump’s directive banning their service.
Staff Sgt. Joseph Manning was arrested at a pro-Confederate rally in May and accused of unfurling a banner with the slogan for a white nationalist group. Another Marine arrested remains in the Corps.
Department officials have been under fire for months over their canine research, but VA defenders say the work is critical to helping injured veterans.
The new deployments will come after the Pentagon acknowledged that 11,000 troops are currently serving in Afghanistan, more than the 8,400 previously stated.