The overhaul reduces faith categories and removes visible officer rank for chaplains.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced two reforms to the U.S. military’s Chaplain Corps aimed at streamlining religious support and redefining the roles of chaplains.
Hegseth said that the military will reduce its faith coding system from more than 200 categories to 31, renaming them “religious affiliation codes.” He described the previous system as “impractical and unusable,” noting that 82% of religious service members identify with just six categories.
JNS asked the Pentagon about whether self-identified “messianic Jewish” chaplains would be classified under the new rules as Christian or Jewish. “We do not have anything to provide beyond the secretary’s video at this time,” a Defense Department spokesman told JNS.