US establishes office of religious affairs

The United States Department of War has established an Office of Religious Affairs to strengthen the “moral, ethical and spiritual readiness” of American military personnel.

The establishment was contained in a memorandum addressed to senior Pentagon leadership, commanders of combatant commands, and directors of defence agencies and Department of War field activities on Wednesday.

The memorandum, effective immediately, also created the position of Director of the Office of Religious Affairs, who will serve as a Principal Staff Assistant with direct access to the Secretary of War.

According to the document, the director will be the principal adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of War on religious affairs across the department.

The new office is expected to ensure that adequate resources are provided for religious affairs and that policies are aligned to prioritise the free exercise of religion and spiritual readiness across the military.

The memorandum stressed that the initiative would not compel religious participation or undermine the rights of service members, civilian employees or their families.

“Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to compel religious participation or to diminish the free exercise rights of any Service member, civilian employee, or family member of any faith or no faith,” it stated.

The Office of Religious Affairs will oversee several areas, including funding for religious ministry, facilities and infrastructure, logistics, chaplain procurement programmes, and training and education for chaplains and religious support teams.

It will also support chaplain-led programmes, chapel youth programmes and faith-based home-schooling support for military families.

It said the office will also “sponsor and oversee research, technology, and analytical tools to support and assess spiritual fitness, spiritual readiness, and spiritual resilience” across the military.

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The office is further tasked with supporting faith-based initiatives aimed at suicide reduction and the resilience of military personnel, as well as contracted services from faith-based non-Federal organisations.

The director will also have authority to align and, where necessary, issue policies concerning religious affairs on behalf of the Secretary of War.

The office will represent the Secretary of War on religious-affairs matters in engagements with Congress, other government departments and agencies, and civilian religious endorsing organisations.

The memorandum also places the Armed Forces Chaplains Board and its executive director under the authority, direction and control of the new Director of Religious Affairs.

It directed the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, working with the Under Secretary of War (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer, to establish an initial baseline budget for the office and submit a funding plan for fiscal year 2027 within 60 days.

The Director of Administration and Management was given 90 days to formalise the office within the Department of War’s organisational structure and draft a directive formally establishing it.

The official is also expected to identify an initial allocation of Senior Executive Service, civilian and military positions required to establish the office.

Meanwhile, the Secretaries of the Military Departments, working with their respective Chiefs of Chaplains, were directed to submit comprehensive reports within 90 days detailing unfunded and underfunded religious-affairs requirements.

The reports are expected to cover religious ministry, facilities, logistics, chaplain-led programmes, youth programmes, faith-based home-schooling support, suicide-reduction programmes and contracted faith-based services.

They will also cover research and technology for spiritual fitness and resilience, chaplain procurement programmes, and training and education for chaplains and religious support teams.