The Department of War announced a major effort this week to strengthen the U.S. military’s Chaplain Corps, framing the move as a restoration of religious liberty and spiritual readiness across the armed forces.
In a statement released Wednesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the Department of War is executing a “top-down cultural shift” to place spiritual well-being on equal footing with physical and mental health, emphasizing the historic role of chaplains in supporting service members during combat and crisis.
The move follows testimony delivered earlier this month in Dallas during the Presidential Religious Liberty Commission’s fourth hearing, where military chaplains, legal experts, and service members described what they said were years of declining religious accommodations and restrictions on chaplain-led religious expression, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who chairs the Religious Liberty Commission, praised the administration’s actions, calling the chaplaincy “foundational to the American military.”
“As we were reminded at our Commission hearing last week, the chaplaincy is foundational to the American military—a source of spiritual strength so that our servicemembers continue to serve as a force for good in the face of evil and oppression,” Patrick said. “Tragically, past administrations sought to undermine the spiritual and strategic role of the military chaplaincy.”
Patrick said President Donald Trump directed the Commission to examine areas where religion has been “attacked and targeted,” including within the armed forces. Testimony at the hearing came from retired military chaplains, legal experts, and religious leaders representing multiple faith traditions.
Retired Army Chaplain Maj. Gen. Doug Carver, who served 38 years in uniform and was the Army’s 22nd Chief of Chaplains, testified that chaplains have historically served as religious leaders first, not generic morale officers.
“In 1775, one of General George Washington’s first requests to Congress was that a religious leader—a chaplain—might be appointed to serve the needs of this new military,” Carver said, describing chaplains as noncombatants who provide “religious services within their own faith, beliefs, and practices” while also advising commanders on religious liberty.
Carver warned that chaplains’ roles have been diluted in recent decades, with pressure to avoid faith-specific expression.
“I noticed it when I first came in the Army… that we would be told, ‘You can only pray a nonsectarian prayer,’” Carver testified. “No one tells a chaplain how to pray. If a chaplain is told how not to pray or how to pray, you’ve violated religious liberty.”
Rabbi Col. Sanford Dresin, a retired Army chaplain and longtime endorser for Jewish military chaplains, testified that Jewish service members routinely face obstacles to religious accommodation, including access to kosher meals, Sabbath observance, and chaplain advocacy.
“Religious accommodation should not be treated as an exception to policy,” Dresin said. “It should be policy.”
Legal experts testified that the Chaplain Corps exists to fulfill the government’s constitutional obligation to protect the free exercise of religion for service members deployed away from their faith communities.
Amy Vitale, government affairs counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, testified that the chaplaincy is “not optional” but “an essential element of support” for the military.
“Chaplains are religious ministers who exist to meet the religious needs of soldiers,” Vitale said, noting that federal law, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, protects chaplains’ ability to act according to their faith traditions.
Catholic leaders also testified about the sacramental needs of Catholic service members, emphasizing that certain religious practices cannot be substituted or delayed without undermining free exercise rights.
Monsignor Anthony Frontiero, vicar general of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, said denying access to sacraments during deployments can damage morale and spiritual resilience.
“The more control the military exercises over an individual, the greater the military’s responsibility becomes to ensure the free exercise of religion,” Frontiero testified.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, who also addressed the Commission, said restoring the Chaplain Corps is critical for service members facing life-and-death decisions.
“To manage the constant pressure and danger, they must have the ability to see their work through an eternal perspective,” Woodward said. “The Chaplain Corps… has long supported soldiers in cultivating this ability.”
The Department of War said the reforms aim to ensure chaplains are restored to their traditional role as religious leaders, advisors to command, and protectors of service members’ constitutional rights.
The full transcript of the Religious Liberty Commission’s December 10 hearing is available through the Department of Justice
