Pentagon Launches Office of Religious Affairs Reporting Directly to Hegseth

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the creation of the Pentagon's Office of Religious Affairs (ORA) on September 30, 2026, during a "State of the Force" address at Marine Corps Base Quantico.

The office will report directly to the Secretary of Defense, bypassing the usual staff layers. Hegseth said the structure ensures "no staff filters" between chaplains and senior leadership.

The ORA will realign the Armed Forces Chaplains Board under its authority and oversee research into what the Pentagon is calling "spiritual fitness, spiritual readiness, and spiritual resilience." It will also manage funding for faith-based suicide-reduction programs and homeschool support for military families.

Hegseth cited data showing 95% of the joint force identifies as religious. He said spiritual health must be treated with the same priority as physical health.

The announcement follows a series of faith-focused changes during Hegseth's tenure. He directed military chaplains to remove rank insignias from their uniforms, signaling that their primary calling is divine rather than hierarchical. The Pentagon also revamped its system for tracking religious affiliations, reducing recognized codes from over 200 to 31.

Hegseth has hosted monthly prayer services at the Pentagon. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has criticized those events as violations of the First Amendment.

Critics have raised concerns that the ORA aligns the military with specific evangelical Christian ideologies. Hegseth has framed the office as a response to what he calls an era of "secular humanism" and "political correctness" within the armed forces.

The ORA is expected to be fully operational before the end of 2026.