New action taken to strengthen US military chaplain corps

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a new directive to revamp the U.S. military Chaplain Corps. The new directive was issued one week after a Department of Justice Religious Liberty Commission held a hearing and heard testimony about systemic deficiencies preventing service members from practicing their faith.

Changes are coming after the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and the Army and Navy Chaplain Corps, all celebrated their 250th anniversaries this year. They were all established in 1775 by the Continental Congress and General George Washington.

At Washington’s request, the Continental Congress established the Army Chaplain Corps on July 29, 1775, authorizing one chaplain for each regular regiment, The Center Square reported. The U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps was established four months later.

The Chaplain Corps is the backbone of the United States military, Hegseth said, citing Washington’s general orders: ‘The blessing and protection are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger.”

“For about 200 years, the Chaplain Corps continued its role as the spiritual leader of our service members, serving our men and women in times of hardship and ministering to their souls. But sadly, as part of the ongoing war on warriors in recent decades, its role has been degraded in an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism,” Hegseth said.

“Chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers. Faith and virtue were traded for self-help and self-care,” he said, pointing to the Army’s “spiritual fitness guide.” The roughly 100-page guide only mentions God once, feelings 11 times and virtue zero times, he said.

The guide also “relies on new age notions, saying that the soldier’s spirit consists of ‘consciousness,’ ‘creativity’ and ‘connection.’” It also says the majority of service members are religious but “alienates our war fighters and faith by pushing secular humanism.”

“It’s unacceptable and unserious so we’re tossing it,” Hegseth said.

Effective Tuesday, Hegseth eliminated the guide, saying its training materials “have no place in the War Department. Our chaplains are not emotional support options and we’re going to treat them as such.”

The DOW faith and belief coding system is also being streamlined, more reforms are expected, he said.

“There will be a top-down cultural shift putting spiritual well-being on the same footing as mental and physical health as a first step toward creating a supportive environment for our warriors and their souls,” Hegseth said. “We’re going to restore the esteemed position of chaplains as moral anchors for our fighting force.” He pointed to a 1956-era Army chaplain’s manual as a guide, which states, “The chaplain is the pastor and the shepherd of the souls entrusted to his care.”

Hegseth issued the directive one week after a Religious Liberty Commission held a hearing in Dallas to address challenges military chaplains are facing. It was the fourth hearing the commission has held this year, chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Patrick said the reforms were “much needed” to reverse the damage caused by past administrations that “sought to undermine the spiritual and strategic role of the military chaplaincy.”

He explained that President Donald Trump asked the commission to “evaluate areas of American life where religion has been attacked and targeted. We learned last week just how far this targeting has gone even in our own military, through powerful testimony from military chaplains.”

Chap. Maj. Gen. Doug Carver, Ret., Chap. Rabbi Col. Sanford Dresin, Ret., Monsignor Anthony Frontiero, S.T.D., Vicar General with the Archdiocese for the Military Services testified to the erosion of religious freedoms. Not being able to provide basic services has prevented service members from not fully practicing their faith, they said.

In response, Patrick said, “what all of you are talking about, you can’t deliver that opportunity to the soldiers if you’re not there. It would be like taking a community in America and removing all the churches and all the synagogues for what we might say are a part of the population, particularly at war, or even just away from their families that are very stressed individuals.

“In the area of some of the most stressed individuals we have in performing their duties, without a strong Chaplaincy, we have removed the church, we’ve moved the synagogue, we’ve removed all these opportunities from them. That only compounds the issue.”

The commission also heard from former Navy SEAL Blake Martin, military supplier Kenny Vaughan with Shields of Strength, and WallBuilders founder Dave Barton.