After Prison Release, Chelsea Manning Will Remain on Active Duty, Receive Healthcare Benefits

Pvt. Chelsea Manning, whose sentence was commuted in former President Obama’s final days in office, will remain an active duty, unpaid soldier upon being released May 17 from military prison.

Manning, who was convicted of espionage for leaking national security secrets, will also be eligible for healthcare and other benefits.

Manning entered prison as a man named Bradley. Manning changed her name, identified as a woman and received hormone treatment while incarcerated. Her sentence was commuted in the final days of the Obama administration, a move that infuriated some in the military and President Trump.

While Manning’s court-martial conviction remains under appeal, she will remain a private in the Army, said Dave Foster, an Army spokesman. As an active duty soldier, Manning will continue to receive health care and have access to commissaries and military exchanges, but she will not be paid.

“Pvt. Manning is statutorily entitled to medical care while on excess leave in an active duty status, pending final appellate review,” Foster said.

Other terms of Manning’s release have not been made public for privacy reasons, according to the Army.

The soldier had been sentenced to 35 years in military prison for releasing hundreds of thousands of national security documents to WikiLeaks.

“For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea,” Manning said in a statement released by the ACLU. “I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world.”