NPR reported on October 17 that the Pentagon would not say how the office will work or who will lead it. In that report, retired Air Force chief chaplain Maj. Gen. Howard Stendahl voiced concern about a "temptation to establish religion," while Liberty Counsel's Daniel Schmid welcomed the office. NPR also reports the department cut its list of recognized religions from more than 200 to 30; VoteFiles has not found an official record of that change.
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Pentagon creates an Office of Religious Affairs reporting to Hegseth
What is the Office of Religious Affairs that Secretary Pete Hegseth created to oversee religious support and chaplains, and what has the department said it will and will not do?
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Official records were found in Federal sources; 2 records are listed below. No matching record was found in the listed Administrative sources, using the searches shown, as of 2026-10-19.
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Verified Oct 19, 2026 · 14:16 UTCWhat we checked and what we found
On October 17, 2026 read the Department of War September 30 release and the as-delivered State of the Force speech on war.gov in the browser, after plain fetches were refused. Located the establishing memo on media.defense.gov but could not render or read it. Searched Google restricted to war.gov and defense.gov for later records on the office. Each of the six scopes was decided separately. NPR reporting used as a lead and attributed. On October 19, 2026 the newsroom desk read the war.gov releases list in the browser (newest October 17); no later record on the office was found.
Names and reference numbers searched
Office of Religious Affairs (ORA), U.S. Department of War (Department of Defense), established by Secretary Pete Hegseth on September 30, 2026 by memo "Establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs" and announced in his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico; the military Service chaplain corps (Army, Navy, Air Force). Exclude the other five September 30 initiatives (Autonomous Warfare Command, America's Corps of Cadets, FORTRESS America, Next Great American Base, Project Meridian) and the Armed Forces Chaplains Board except as background.
Official records found
Federal · Sep 30, 2026Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's State of the Force Address (As Delivered)speech transcript · Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, State of the Force Address (As Delivered), Marine Corps Base Quantico (September 30, 2026)Read October 17, 2026 (in the browser). The Secretary says: "Today, at my direction, I am establishing the Office of Religious Affairs" and that it "will report straight to the top" with "a direct line to the Secretary", and will "protect budgets, demand infrastructure, and strengthen religious support." He says less than 5% of the force identifies as non-religious and that decisions about faith had been made by "secular careerists"; he lists the office as one of six announcements.
Federal · Sep 30, 2026Secretary Hegseth Announces Six Major Initiatives at Quantico Speechpress release · Department of War release, "Secretary Hegseth Announces Six Major Initiatives at Quantico Speech" (September 30, 2026)Read October 17, 2026 (in the browser; plain fetch refused). Lists six initiatives, including that the Secretary "stands up the Office of Religious Affairs". Describes the office as "a direct-report office to the Secretary of War charged with driving Department-wide policy, resource advocacy, and action", meant to "protect free exercise, remove policy barriers, identify unmet requirements" and secure support for the Service chaplaincies. States the Service chaplaincies "will remain the Department's primary providers of religious support" and that the office "will not compel religious participation, favor one faith, or diminish the rights of personnel of any faith or lack thereof." Links a memo establishing the office.
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