In an effort to streamline operations, military faith recognitions went from 200+ to 31, mostly Christian beliefs
In an effort to streamline operations, military faith recognitions went from 200+ to 31, mostly Christian beliefs
Weekend Editor
Published
June 6, 2026 2:30PM (EDT)
A soldier reads Holy Scripture in a field. The military is consolidating faiths to streamline its chaplaincy services. (Wirestock / Getty Images)
Pentagon drops 180 religions from its recognized faiths list
Pentagon cuts more than 100 faiths from military’s recognized religions list
DOD Officially Drops 180 Faiths From Military's Recognized Religion List
Hegseth directs DOD to drop hundreds of faiths from recognized religion list
Pentagon Officially Removes 180 Faiths From Military Religion List
Here is the full list of faiths being unrecognized by the Pentagon
Defense Department slashes its religious designations list from more than 200 choices to 31
Pentagon updates religious codes after criticism from Mormons
Departamento de Defensa de EEUU reduce su lista religiosa de más de 200 opciones a 31
Pentagon changes religions list again after backlash - UPI.com
A former Army chaplain called the reported changes a ‘tragedy’
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Defense Secretary Hegseth previously announced the change due to an "impractical" system.
The Department of Defense moved this week to reduce the number of recognized religions, faiths and belief systems from more than…
The military had initially listed 211 religious affiliation codes, but that number has been sharply reduced under the direction…
Soldiers will still be able to list the dropped religions on their dog tags, according to the Pentagon
