Pete Hegseth Said Military Chaplains Are ‘Degraded.’ He’s Wrong.

LAST WEEK, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE Pete Hegseth released a video on social media asserting that “a real problem facing our nation’s military” is “the weakening of our chaplain corps.” In the clip, he cited parts of the Army’s newly published Spiritual Fitness Guide—the online version of which has since been un-published—as evidence of the decline, arguing that the religious role of chaplains had “degraded” into what he characterized as “self-help and self-care” with too much attention toward “feelings.” In doing so, he made two fundamental mistakes: One about the chaplain corps and the Army document he attacked, and the other about the composition and needs of the force he is tasked with leading.