Pentagon chiefPete Hegsethannounced two major changes to the military's chaplaincy corps on March 24, one of which will mean chaplains will no longer wear their rank insignia.
They will instead display their religious insignia while retaining their rank as officers. They "will be seen among the highest ranks because of their divine calling," Hegseth said ina video posted to X.
The change reflects Hegseth's wider effort to infuse the chaplaincy, and the military more broadly, with more explicitly religious sentiments.
Service members' spiritual health should be seen as equally important as physical and mental health, Hegseth said, lamenting what he said was the chaplaincy's misguided shift away over the years from focusing on religious faith in favor of "self-help and self-care."
"A warfighter needs more than a coping mechanism," he said. "They need truth, big-T truth, they need conviction, they need a shepherd."
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Hegseth also said the move would make chaplains more accessible by reducing "any unease or anxiety" service members may have about approaching a superior to discuss sensitive issues.
He also announced that the Pentagon would be using 31 faith codes moving forward instead of the more than 200 previously recognized. He called that higher number an "impractical and unusable system."
A smaller, more streamlined system will support chaplains in "minister(ing) to service members in a way that aligns with that service member's faith background and religious practice," Hegseth said.
He said the Pentagon is "not even close to being done" in taking steps toward "restoring the esteemed position of chaplain."
"You have a sacred calling," Hegseth said in closing. "So preach the truth, be steadfast in your faith, and shepherd the flock entrusted to you."
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A history of debates over religious diversity in the military
President George Washingtonestablished the Chaplain Corpsin 1775. Itwas exclusively Protestantat its founding but introducedCatholic chaplains and a rabbiin the 19th century. Thefirst Muslim chaplaincame in 1994, and thefirst Buddhist chaplainfollowed in 2008.
There has been an array of controversies and debates over the extent to which the military should accommodate religious expression over the years.
TheU.S. Supreme Court in 1986ruled that the Air Force could prohibit an Orthodox Jewish service member from wearing a yarmulke while in uniform. Though it restrained his religious expression, the court said the ban "reasonably and evenhandedly" supported the military's "perceived need for uniformity."
In the early 2000s, there wereallegations that Air Force Academy officersand cadets were proselytizing in support of evangelical Christian beliefs, fostering a less welcoming environment for service members of other faith traditions.
Army Chaplain Corps guidelinespublished during former PresidentJoe Biden's administration in February 2024, whichremained on the Army's websitefollowing the March 24 announcement, said the Chaplain Corps at that point represented more than 100 religious groups.
The Chaplain Corps "cares for all Soldiers and their Families, regardless of their religious preferences, and even when they have no religious preference at all," it said. It added that recruiters were "actively working to increase the Corps' diversity" at that point, particularly as it related to more women serving as chaplains and more representation of minority faiths in the chaplaincy.
Formermilitary chaplains previously expressed concernover the Pentagon's more explicitly religious vision under PresidentDonald Trump's administration in interviews with USA TODAY. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation reported earlier in March that it had received more than 200 complaints related to religious freedom from service members in the wake of theUnited States' war in Iran.
BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her atbjfrank@usatoday.com.
USA TODAY's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.Funders do not provide editorial input.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Military chaplains will no longer display rank, Hegseth announces