{"id":2522162,"date":"2025-12-17T12:25:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pete-hegseth-announces-plan-to-restore-george-washingtons-military-chaplain-corps-to-its-former-glory\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T12:26:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:26:34","slug":"pete-hegseth-announces-plan-to-restore-george-washingtons-military-chaplain-corps-to-its-former-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pete-hegseth-announces-plan-to-restore-george-washingtons-military-chaplain-corps-to-its-former-glory\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete Hegseth Announces Plan to Restore George Washington&#8217;s Military Chaplain Corps to Its Former Glory"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpete-hegseth-announces-plan-to-restore-george-washingtons-military-chaplain-corps-to-its-former-glory%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2522162&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced plans to rebuild the U.S. military Chaplain Corps with a stronger emphasis on faith, criticizing its recent decline and the influence of political correctness and secular humanism. he highlighted that chaplains, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/saudi-court-jails-womens-rights-activist-posing-challenge-for-biden\/\" title=\"Saudi court jails women\u2019s rights activist, posing challenge for Biden\">originally established<\/a> by George Washington in 1775 as the spiritual and moral backbone of the armed forces, have been relegated to roles resembling therapists rather than ministers. Hegseth condemned the Army&#8217;s spiritual fitness guide for barely mentioning God and focusing rather on feelings and New Age concepts,announcing its ban. He emphasized restoring chaplains to their traditional role as moral anchors and promised further reforms, including streamlining the Pentagon&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-trump-religious-groups-begin-turning-up-heat-on-gop-to-take-action-on-marjorie-taylor-greene\/\" title=\"Pro...Trump, Religious Groups Begin Turning Up Heat On GOP To Take Action On Marjorie Taylor Greene\">religious group<\/a> list, to elevate spiritual well-being alongside mental and physical health in the military.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that the military will be rebuilding its Chaplain Corps with a renewed focus on faith.<\/p>\n<p>In a video <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecWar\/status\/2001113071108882526\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posted to X<\/a>, Hegseth denounced &ldquo;the weakening of our Chaplain Corps,&rdquo; which was intended to be the &ldquo;spiritual and mortal backbone of our nation&rsquo;s forces.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;George Washington established the Chaplain Corps in 1775, one of his first actions as general of the Continental Army,&rdquo; Hegseth said, quoting Washington as saying, &ldquo;The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary, but especially so in times of public distress and danger.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth said that as &ldquo;part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yemen-lgbt-refugees-and-white-supremacy-everything-you-need-to-know-about-bidens-first-foreign-policy-speech\/\" title=\"Yemen, LGBT Refugees, And White Supremacy: Everything You Need To Know About Biden\u2019s First Foreign Policy Speech\">ongoing war<\/a> on warriors,&rdquo; the focus of the Chaplain Corps had become blurred.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">&ldquo;Chaplains are intended to be the spiritual and moral backbone of our nation&rsquo;s forces. George Washington established the Chaplain Corps in 1775&hellip;&rdquo; Thank you Secretary of War <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PeteHegseth?\">@PeteHegseth<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/noMAJHbkV1\">https:\/\/t.co\/noMAJHbkV1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Franklin_Graham\/status\/2001121896201396635?\">December 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>  &ldquo;In recent decades, its role has been degraded. In an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism, chaplains have been minimized,&rdquo; he said, adding that they are &ldquo;viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Faith and virtue were traded for self-help and self-care,&rdquo; Hegseth said.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth then took aim at the Army&rsquo;s spiritual fitness guide.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In well over 100 pages, it mentions God one time. That&rsquo;s it,&rdquo; Hegseth said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It mentions feelings 11 times. It even mentions playfulness, whatever that is, nine times. There is zero mention of virtue. The guide relies on New Age notions,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In short, it&rsquo;s unacceptable and unserious. So we&rsquo;re tossing it,&rdquo; he said, adding that he was signing an order to ban use of the guide.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our chaplains are chaplains, not <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >emotional support officers<\/a>, and we&rsquo;re going to treat them as such,&rdquo; Hegseth said.<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, the Pentagon issued a list of 221 groups that qualify as a religious group. The list includes Wiccans and atheists, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stripes.com\/branches\/army\/2025-12-17\/hegseth-military-chaplains-20119952.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stars and Stripes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Without offering details, Hegseth said the Pentagon will &ldquo;streamline&rdquo; the list.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;More reforms will be coming in the days and weeks ahead,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There will be a top-down cultural shift, putting spiritual well-being on the same footing as mental and physical health.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to restore the key position of chaplain as moral anchors,&rdquo; Hegseth said.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that the military will be revitalizing its Chaplain Corps with an emphasis on faith. In a video shared on X, Hegseth criticized what he called the &#8220;weakening of our Chaplain Corps,&#8221; which was originally meant to serve as the &#8220;spiritual and moral foundation of our nation&#8217;s forces.&#8221; He highlighted that George Washington created the Chaplain Corps in 1775, one of his first acts as commander of the Continental Army<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2522163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-12-17T111833.199.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33289,68961,44930,68962,38534],"class_list":["post-2522162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-george-washington","tag-military-chaplain-corps","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-restoration-plan","tag-veterans-affairs"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-12-17T111833.199.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2522162"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2522166,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522162\/revisions\/2522166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2522163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2522162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2522162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2522162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}