Hegseth Cuts Pentagon Faith Codes to 31 and Orders Chaplains to Wear Only Religious Insignia

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon is reducing the number of official military “faith code” affiliations from more than 200 to 31, arguing in a Wednesday post on X that the old system had become “impractical and unusable” and that most service members used only six of the codes. He says about 82% of service members identify as religious and that the streamlined list is meant to give chaplains clearer, more usable information to match spiritual support to troops’ stated faith backgrounds. Hegseth also ordered military chaplains to replace visible rank insignia on their uniforms with their religious insignia, declaring that “a chaplain is first and foremost a chaplain, and an officer second,” though they will technically retain officer rank within the system. Framing the moves as the first steps in a broader overhaul to “restore” chaplains as “moral anchors” of the force, he emphasized that they are “called and ordained by God” and must have freedom to “boldly guide and care for their flock” — language that is already prompting debate online over church‑state lines in the armed forces and the potential impact on minority faiths whose codes may be merged or dropped.