The military has long made room for religion. What happens when religion begins to shape the military itself?
Yesterday (9/30/26) at a speech at Quantico, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he is creating a new Office of Religious Affairs at the Pentagon, reporting directly to him.
The office will drive department-wide religious-affairs policy and advocate for funding, facilities and other resources. Hegseth said military chaplains will have a direct channel to him, with “no staff filters” and “no bureaucratic dilution,” and that the office will have “real teeth.”
The new office does not replace the military’s existing chaplaincies. The Pentagon says those will remain the primary providers of religious support. The new office gives them an advocate at the secretary’s level.
The Pentagon also says the office will not compel religious participation, favor one faith, or diminish the rights of people of any faith or no faith.
Hegseth used explicitly Christian language in his announcement, quoting Psalm 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”
Yesterday’s announcement follows a series of changes Hegseth has made involving religion at the Pentagon.
Last year, he began holding monthly Christian worship services there.
In February, he invited Doug Wilson, a self-described Christian nationalist pastor from Moscow, Idaho, to preach at one of the services. Wilson co-founded the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, the denomination with which Hegseth is affiliated.
Hegseth has also ordered changes to the military chaplaincy, including directing chaplains to replace rank insignia with religious insignia on some uniforms, and has called for a “top-down cultural shift” in the Chaplain Corps.
The Pentagon has not yet announced who will lead the office, how it will be staffed, or what its budget will be.
The military has long made room for religion. What happens when religion begins to shape the military itself?
Sources
- Associated Press: Hegseth announces new initiatives in State of the Force speech
- State of the Force address transcript
- Department announcement: Office of Religious Affairs and other initiatives
- The Washington Post: Hegseth invited Doug Wilson to preach at Pentagon
- Military Times: Hegseth removes rank insignia from military chaplains
- Stars and Stripes: Hegseth orders Chaplain Corps overhaul
- Previous Note: State Religion
