Updated April 25, 2026, 8:20 a.m. ET
- Hegseth dismissed Army Chief of Chaplains Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., together with two different high-ranking army officers, in early April.
- An knowledgeable informed USA TODAY it is “extraordinarily odd … to dismiss a chief of chaplains.” Lawmakers and Green’s denomination have referred to as for extra transparency from the Pentagon about why he was fired.
- A retired army chaplain stated the chief of chaplains performs a significant function in guaranteeing service members’ spiritual assist. Not having somebody within the place leaves an “enormous” hole, he stated.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is placing his stamp on faith and its function within the army.
He tossed out the Army’s religious health information in December, lamenting its lack of specific references to God in favor of broader spirituality. He’s held Christian prayer providers on the Pentagon with controversial pastors and framed components of the warfare in Iran in biblical phrases.
He introduced in March that the Pentagon would cut back the quantity of acknowledged spiritual affiliation codes, that are utilized in half to attach service members with mandatory religion assets, and that army chaplains would now not show, however nonetheless retain, their rank insignia.
The shakeups continued in April.
On the identical day Hegseth requested Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down and immediately retire, two different high-ranking officers had been ousted, together with Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., the Army’s chief of chaplains.
The removing of the Army’s top chaplain was “extraordinarily odd,” one knowledgeable stated, and a former high-ranking chaplain stated Green’s removing leaves an “enormous gap” for the Army.
Any gaps between chiefs of chaplains up to now have normally been the outcome of a pre-planned retirement, stated Ronit Stahl, a University of California, Berkeley professor and writer of the e book “Enlisting Faith: How the Military Chaplaincy Shaped Religion and State in Modern America.”
The place has a four-year term and infrequently spans presidential administrations. Green began the position below former President Joe Biden’s administration in December 2023.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has acquired “several scores” of complaints from service members “infuriated” by Green’s removing, in response to the group’s founder and president Mikey Weinstein, a retired Air Force officer.
The Pentagon referred USA TODAY to the Army, which stated chaplain providers stay ongoing.
“Religious support operations continue under the guidance of the Deputy Chief of Chaplains,” Army spokeswoman Heather Hagan stated. Col. Rich West, an ordained Anglican priest, currently holds that position.
No chief of chaplains leaves an ‘enormous’ hole, retired chaplain says
The chaplaincy’s final purpose is “ensuring religious freedom and pastoral care for those willing to lay down their lives” for the nation, stated the Rev. Jonathan Shaw, director of church relations for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, who retired as a colonel after almost 40 years of army service in 2020. Shaw was an Army chaplain and was working because the Army Chaplain Corps’ director of operations on the time of his retirement.
Faith is a pivotal element of many service members’ lives, he informed USA TODAY, and army chaplains should grapple with the tensions that include the job. There’s the chance and problem of accommodating a numerous array of spiritual traditions, however he stated there are additionally tensions in being each a non secular and ethical determine, a authorities worker and a religion chief.
“You’re in the business of being willing helpers to those who must take people’s lives,” Shaw stated.
Not having a chief of chaplains to information that work leaves an “enormous” hole, he stated. While these within the chaplaincy can largely proceed to workas they beforehand had been for now, Shaw stated “you can’t ride that very long” in a “very dynamic profession.”
It has arguably been much more dynamic below Hegseth’s tenure given the adjustments he has made to the chaplaincy in latest months.
In asserting chaplains would now not show their rank insignia in March, Hegseth stated they might be “seen among the highest ranks because of their divine calling” and added that the Pentagon is “not even close to being done” in taking steps towards “restoring the esteemed position of chaplain.” Shaw stated he appreciates Hegseth’s push to prioritize chaplains’ spiritual tasks.
Weinstein, nonetheless, is amongst these who have condemned what they understand as Christian nationalism’s creeping influence on the army below Hegseth’s management.
He previously told USA TODAY his group had acquired “far greater than” 200 complaints associated to non secular freedom from service members amid the Iran warfare as of early March. Among them was an allegation {that a} commander informed non-commissioned officers in a briefing that President Donald Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.”
Christian nationalism refers to a “belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way,” according to scholar Paul D. Miller. Many Christian nationalists consider in erasing the boundaries between church and state, Andrew Whitehead, a professor of sociology at Indiana University Indianapolis, previously told USA TODAY.
Shaw acknowledged the considerations some have about Christian nationalism within the army however described what he views as a probably extra useful framework during which individuals of religion embrace patriotism and nationwide service whereas centering their spiritual id.
“What we want are Christians and Buddhists and Jews and Hindus and Sikhs and so forth, but we want them where they do honor and love this country and do want to serve in the military,” Shaw stated.
Groups elevate considerations about Green’s ouster
Lawmakers and leaders in Green’s spiritual denomination had been amongst those that questioned his dismissal and the dearth of info the Pentagon has offered on the matter.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut, condemned Green’s firing in an April 7 statement that stated he had carried out his duties “with honor and distinction.”
DeLauro described it as a very notable hole within the context of the continued warfare in Iran and Trump’s assertion on April 7 that a “whole civilization will die tonight,” a remark criticized even by these in his base.
“At the moment of our greatest moral peril, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are silencing our voices of conscience,” she said. “That should alarm every American.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, similarly commended Green’s service and accused the Trump administration of “pushing out senior officers for seemingly no valid reason.”
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, a retired Air Force brigadier common, also said that though Hegseth has the authority to fireplace army leaders, “it’s not morally proper nor smart.”
Green became an Army chaplain in 1994 after being endorsed by the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., the oldest and largest Black Baptist denomination within the nation. The denomination emphasizes African Americans’ dignity and liberation, Stahl stated.
The Rev. Boise Kimber, president of the denomination, stated Green’s firing “raises serious and troubling questions that deserve transparency and accountability.”
“His decades of faithful service, moral leadership and historic representation within the Army Chaplain Corps should not be overshadowed by actions that create the appearance of bias, ideological targeting or radical political interference,” Kimber said in an April 8 statement. “Our nation must be careful not to allow partisan agendas to undermine institutions built on merit, sacrifice and service.”
Weinstein additionally referenced Hegseth’s dismissal of three judge advocates general, also known as JAGs, lower than a month after turning into protection secretary in early 2025.
“The message is very clear – you will toe the line,” Weinstein said.
Green declined to comment to USA TODAY.
BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at bjfrank@usatoday.com.
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