Pete Hegseth's ouster of Army's top chaplain leaves 'enormous gap' [View all]

Source: USA Today

Updated April 25, 2026, 8:20 a.m. ET


Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is putting his stamp on religion and its role in the military. He tossed out the Army's spiritual fitness guide in December, lamenting its lack of explicit references to God in favor of broader spirituality. He's held Christian prayer services at the Pentagon with controversial pastors and framed elements of the war in Iran in biblical terms.

He announced in March that the Pentagon would reduce the number of recognized religious affiliation codes, which are used in part to connect service members with necessary faith resources, and that military chaplains would no longer display, but still retain, their rank insignia. The shakeups continued in April.

On the same day Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down and immediately retire, two other high-ranking officials were ousted, including Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., the Army’s chief of chaplains. The removal of the Army's top chaplain was "extraordinarily odd," one expert said, and a former high-ranking chaplain said Green's removal leaves an "enormous gap" for the Army.

Any gaps between chiefs of chaplains in the past have usually been the result of a pre-planned retirement, said Ronit Stahl, a University of California, Berkeley professor and author of the book "Enlisting Faith: How the Military Chaplaincy Shaped Religion and State in Modern America." The position has a four-year term and often spans presidential administrations. Green began the position under former President Joe Biden’s administration in December 2023.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/04/25/pete-hegseth-army-chaplain-william-green/89483759007/