Is it a new slogan? Is it just another set of buzzwords? Is it something achievable?
When the Secretary of War came out with two videos in early 2026 stating his new priorities to make our military’s chaplain corps great by bringing it back to its original mission and purpose, there were many priests who wrote and gave their opinions on the matter. There were many wonderful and thoughtful responses to what seemed to be an important matter. However, I took the time to pray about it and listened to what people had to say first before writing a reflection on how I think we can make our Chaplains and Religious Affairs Airmen be more focused on the true mission that is given to us by Title X and remain faithful to what General George Washington wanted for the men who were serving in the Continental Army. Furthermore, it is an important reminder of why we must remember why we serve and let our true vocation become our priorities and anchors in the times of constant political upheavals, social changes, and real-world challenges.
It was told through many accounts that George Washington kept a prayer journal. He prayed in the morning and evening, kneeling with an open Bible. He prayed silently in private as well as publicly. Thus, one of those moments was captured in the famous painting of him at Valley Forge. Therefore, he wanted to have Chaplains serve alongside the soldiers who volunteered to fight a hard war for our independence. He understood that his men needed spiritual strength, encouragement, and a foundation on top of their physical abilities.
Another great military leader, General George S. Patton, asked his chief chaplain, James H. O’Neill, on December 8th of 1944, to compose a prayer for good weather and asked his 500 chaplains in the Third Army to distribute the prayer before the important and decisive Battle of the Bulge, when a lot was at stake for our military personnel. As a matter of fact, more than 250,000 copies were distributed, and he instructed the troops when facing life and death situations to “Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day.” Furthermore, he instructed his chaplains to be above average in courage and to be close up front, where men were fighting, and many were dying.
Thus, another great leader, General George C. Marshall, once said, “Military power wins battles, but spiritual power wins wars.” He understood the true value of what it takes to be spiritually strong, resilient, and persistent to win the life-long struggles that war often leaves behind in many visible and invisible ways. He understood that only spiritual strength provides a lasting peace and deeper joy instead of passing emotion, temporary happiness, external factors, or secondary matters that come from the environment. In other words, happiness is just like a thermometer that only registers and displays the changing conditions, while joy is like a thermostat that effectively regulates and grounds people on the deeper sense of character, virtues, and values.
That genuine love and self-sacrificial offering for others were captured through many heroic stories of Chaplains who were there with their troops in the dangerous times and laid down their lives for others. As a matter of fact, nine Chaplains were Medal of Honor recipients, and five of them were Catholic priests. Each of their stories was as selfless and courageous as any other Medal of Honor recipients, but without having to rely on combat or a weapon to defend themselves or hurt others! Furthermore, another heartfelt story came from the four Chaplains who sacrificed their lives on the Dorchester that was torpedoed by a German U-Boat on February 3rd of 1943. The Chaplains helped the others board lifeboats and gave up their own life jackets when the supply ran out. They joined arms, said prayers, and sang hymns as they went down with the ship. That night, Reverend Fox (Methodist), Rabbi Goode (Jewish), Reverend Poling (Reformed), and Father Washington (Catholic) became an enduring example of extraordinary faith, courage, and selflessness for their troops. This, again, shows another example of our Chaplains’ love for others.
I can go on and on about stories of how Chaplains can bring real, substantial, and life-changing impacts to the profession of arms because of their spiritual identity and unique roles. Over and over again, all those stories affirmed what George Washington wanted for his Continental Army, and what great generals wanted for their troops in the hardest battles and toughest wars of our world history. Happiness evaporates in suffering because it is based on surface needs and changing emotions, while true joy consistently nourishes us in suffering because it gives life to our deepest needs when we realize our true character and life-giving values.
That is why Chaplains and Religious Affairs Airmen are called to genuinely and personally care for the human weapons, which are our airmen and their families, and they will, in turn, maintain the real, tactical weapon systems. As a matter of fact, the current Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, David Wolfe, recently said: “A sixth-generation fighter jet is an impressive machine, but it will sit useless on the runway without the highly trained and motivated human weapon system ready to fly, fix, and support it. The most critical system upgrade we can make is one which invests in the readiness and resilience of the human weapon system itself.” He advocated for better recognition and response to better compensate and take care of our airmen’s quality of life by saying, “Sixth-generation platforms need Airmen who have a sixth-generation quality of life. People and platforms are not competing variables they are two parts of the same lethality equation. If one is weak, the entire system fails.” Thus, I believe what he was asking for should be an important point where many senior leaders should look to the Chaplain Corps to hear what our servicemembers are honestly saying at different levels (instead of what is politically or militarily correct) and to take the lead in making sure we do more than just simple words and empty talks.
Therefore, I believe we need to stop dismissing our worth and stop acting like Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Officers. Especially for Chaplains, we are the visible reminder of the holy, so that means that we must know who we are instead of worrying about what we think we have to be in careeristic or military terms alone! I find it shameful that many Chaplains dislike or shy away from leading worship services, or they downplay the opportunities into something that is more of a show than a reverential, spiritual, and substantial experience that lifts people’s hearts up to the eternal, transcendental, and beautiful. We also need to stop being reactive or stuck in the systematic and institutional model by learning and adapting to new models and mission sets. We need to think smarter and learn, pivoting ourselves to a proactive strategic mindset of simply being reactive or stuck at the operational and tactical levels alone. We must remember that we are not just some institutional workers but are called to be shepherds of souls and missionaries who creatively sow faith, hope, and joy through genuine, personal, and theocentric service because it is our first and foremost calling.
I wanted to write these thoughts out in a more professional and militarily-oriented languages, but that would bore many people, so I will try to keep it more general for this purpose. Our Department of Air Force Instructions (52-101) reminded us that we are called to advise leaders at all levels and echelons on matters pertaining to religion, morals, ethics, morale, and well-being. We are there to guide and advise by being the voice of conscience, upholding moral principles, and helping others to understand the ethical, cultural, and spiritual significance of the overall plans, policies, operations, and strategies. This is to ensure that our servicemembers can feel seen and valued, thus able to adhere to the highest standards of character, courage, and competence because what we hold dear and sincere strengthens our personal commitment and selfless service for the greater good.
The alignment of our inner purpose, self-worth, and vocation helps us understand why we serve with integrity, excellence, and put others before ourselves so we can uphold the principles which make our country free. We are able to hold ourselves responsible for our actions with integrity and dedication because we know that our service is the defense of America and our way of life. As a matter of fact, I love it when our Code of Conduct, established by President Eisenhower on August 17th of 1955, ends with, “I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.”
Therefore, to make the Chaplain Corps great again requires each Chaplain and Religious Affairs Airman to remember WHY we exist and be true to our vocation instead of being stuck on the institutional and administrative levels. It requires us to go back to what the original intent of why Chaplains were called by General George Washington to spiritually minister, care, accompany, and especially provide rites and rituals to those who fight to protect our freedom and way of life. It requires Religious Affairs Airmen to go beyond the administrative stuff to do what their actual name, job title, and description require of them, which is not to be stuck behind the computer screens, stay in the chapel office areas, or begrudgingly go out to take care of people only when asked, or become some type of warped up administrative assistants. It is important for them to be personally willing to walk alongside and help Chaplains with religious affairs and ministerial matters, too. It takes a heart of service and love for ministry beyond looking at things as a career to progress, a job to collect the pay, or something that only looks good to check the box on the outside.
To make the Chaplain Corps great again requires each and every member to learn from great heroes who gave their lives to honor the fallen, care for the wounded, comfort the sorrowful, find the lost, accompany those who serve, and choose to serve them beyond the typical program-based mindset. It also requires commanders and senior leaders to willingly integrate and proactively utilize their Chaplain Corps members beyond the passive role and anecdotal mindset. We are much more than a helping agency or ancillary resource! It is important to listen to our spiritual, ethical, moral, and qualitative advisement instead of the typical quantitative, metric-driven measurement models alone because there are things that military personnel and their family members will honestly tell us instead of the institutionalized answers. We must be better integrated and willing to be where the troops are to provide genuine spiritual and pastoral care, both at the Chapel and in the units. As a matter of fact, I would like to love for our Chaplain Corps members to take more pride in leading and taking care of worship well at the Chapel, being genuine to who they are in their faith journey, and as visible reminders of the holy, which is way beyond the typical, canned, sensationalistic, afterthought, or check-the-box generic worship mentality. It also requires us to go out to engage and care for those who are in need of us on the flightline, in the fields, in the backshops, and in remote or sensitive areas that cannot be talked about because they are deserving of our pastoral care as well.
To make the Chaplain Corps great again requires us to remember to fall in love and embrace our first love as pastors, ministers, and collaborators in the Lord‘s vineyards instead of treating what is foundational and essential as an afterthought. We can creatively lean into understanding what HC means for us! Historically speaking, our two-letter duty identifier originally meant Headquarters Chaplain because we are attached and always sent from higher headquarters into the field to care and accompany those who serve on the operational and tactical levels. Nonetheless, on the spiritual level, HC should remind us of our higher calling to serve instead of wanting to be served, to minister and care as the Lord for our flock and the people entrusted to us, instead of doing things to serve ourselves alone. Pastorally speaking, HC should remind us to genuinely provide holistic care (physical, social, mental, and spiritual) to our service members and their families instead of an institutionalized and program-based approach alone. Humanly speaking, HC should invite us to genuinely establish, personally maintain, and creatively enrich healthy connections with those who are called to serve and care for. Just like the Lord who knows His sheep and they know Him, we must know and genuinely choose to lay down our lives in serving them, else we end up being false shepherds, who do all the right, great, and glorifying things but lack the genuineness of a shepherd’s heart… or worst, to become like thieves and robbers who might only fatten up the flock to be slaughtered for our own glories.
That is why moral integrity and personal faithfulness to our higher calling and vocational understanding, especially the original intent of why Chaplains were needed, are so important even in 2026! We lead by example by how we let our spiritual and moral values guide our way of life and being courageously selfless in serving in intentional, qualitative, and personal ways to care for people who are not seen by others. We care for those who bear the visible and invisible wounds that are often left by war and institutional failures, so they are not alone in the darkest days, hardest trials, toughest battles, and loneliest times. We do that by how we faithfully remain in prayer and worship, pastoral ministry and spiritual care, as well as intentional discipleship and missionary efforts to plant seeds of faith, hope, and love in every person that we encounter.
What we do might not always be understood, captured, or seen by the institutional side, but it would be the most damming for us if we lose our first love, betray our vocation, and forget who we are and why we exist. It is futile to expect that senior leaders know and understand what we bring to the fight because they do not understand the qualitative side of the house, since they are only taught and trained to look at things based on metrics and numbers. It is impractical to expect that we are truly recognized by regular line officers for our true worth and value. It is unrealistic to simply treat ourselves or want to be like other officers (even though we can still be good stewards and effective leaders by using the gifts endowed to us or learned along the way) because it is not who we are or who we are called to be. Therefore, we must not lose focus or let ourselves be defined by people who cannot understand us, but we remain faithful, dedicated, and serve with humility and genuineness because it is who we are.
It is perfectly fine to be disappointed at times, but that is very much the way of the world and of life itself. It is never perfect, but there is so much goodness and grace that abound and are at work at all times! In a joyless and hopeless environment where people are being institutionally treated, rated, and recognized for what they do, we remind them of who they are by focusing on the real person and relationship as a beloved child of God. Furthermore, we should never forget to live what we remind people each and every day to embrace who they are as a person, beyond their duties and responsibilities, outside of the uniform, and to remember their true identity and self-worth beyond what the military can see or expect from them. Nonetheless, it is important to live what we preach and try to instill in people by remembering the real reason why we serve and who we are! We are, indeed, in the business of saving and caring for souls, giving and providing what people will never see, understand, or be able to receive from their usual chain of command, military culture, or particular environment by being a genuine, personal, and visible reminder of the holy. That is why it would be a shame if we just end up like everyone else and forget to be faithful to our own spiritual conviction, faith, mission, purpose, and service… because this is what sets us apart and makes us different as Chaplain Corps members!
I pray that “Make the Chaplain Corps Again” is not just another slogan or set of buzzwords, but that every member remembers who we are and why we exist, thus personalizing that mission, purpose, and calling to do what is asked of us by the Lord and what the institutional military model cannot know or understand at this moment. We do it because it is indeed our higher calling in providing holistic care and building healthy connections by spiritually shepherding, ethically advising, morally guiding, genuinely caring, and personally choosing to serve by learning, imitating, and emulating what we have first received in prayer, lived out in worship, and daily put into practice with intentional discipleship. It is, indeed, not easy and can be met with a lot of discouragements, obstacles, and dismissals because those qualitative desires and measures cannot be captured on the institutional level, but the Lord knows our hearts and will reward us with what cannot be seen or captured by earthly, worldly, or temporary standards. In short, what makes the Chaplain Corps great will be its people who remember their first love, courageously live their spiritual conviction and moral values, and willingly choose to serve with great love!
So that others may spiritually live…