WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is creating a new Office of Religious Affairs at the Pentagon, expanding a series of initiatives that place faith at the center of his approach to military leadership.
Hegseth announced the office Wednesday, saying it would provide “first-class religious support” across the Defense Department while reporting directly to the secretary.
“Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armor of God, because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual,” he said.
Since taking charge of the Pentagon, Hegseth has openly incorporated his evangelical Christian beliefs into his public leadership. He has organized Christian worship services for department employees and frequently described the United States as a Christian nation.
According to a Pentagon statement, the Office of Religious Affairs, known as ORA, will champion military chaplains and religious support services “at the highest level of the Department.” The office will not “compel religious participation, favor one faith, or diminish the rights of personnel of any faith or lack thereof.”
The announcement drew immediate objections from critics who questioned the office’s potential influence over military policy.
“The Pentagon owes it to the nation’s service members to defend religious freedom,” said Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church, which has sued the department over its worship services. “Hegseth’s latest announcement violates that promise by elevating Christianity to an even higher role in shaping U.S. military policy.”
Religious and faith-based offices have existed in other federal agencies. Many were created during President George W. Bush’s administration and continued in revised forms under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. President Donald Trump established a White House Faith Office and pursued a similar initiative during his first term.
Shaun Casey, a religion scholar who headed the State Department’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs during the Obama administration, said that office was not designed to promote faith or spiritual wellness. Instead, he said, its purpose was “to understand what were the political implications of lived religion in the various hot spots around the world.”
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The Pentagon has not yet identified who will lead the new office. A department memo says its director will coordinate spiritual resources, including “faith-based homeschool support for military families.” Hegseth has separately urged the military’s education system to add more lessons influenced by conservative and Christian perspectives.
The memo also refers to “faith-based initiatives supporting Department-wide suicide reduction.” As more service members face mental health challenges, the military has increasingly relied on chaplains for support. Hegseth has said he wants chaplains to place greater emphasis on God and less on therapeutic concepts such as “self-help and self-care.”
He has also ordered changes to the military chaplain corps, whose members provide spiritual care to troops. Chaplains are commissioned officers, but under Hegseth’s directive they will no longer display their rank on their uniforms and instead will be identified by religious insignia.
The Defense Department has also reduced the number of officially recognized religious affiliations from more than 200 to 31. The revised list excludes atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans and Wiccans.
Speaking Wednesday at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Hegseth addressed chaplains directly with language rooted in Christian teaching: “Live your calling. Stand firm. Preach truth. Minister to the flock.”
He closed by quoting the Bible: “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do unto me?”
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