Religious Accommodations in the Armed Services

Publisher Marketing: Today, the subcommittee will examine religious accommodations in the armed services, including the military services' interpretation, enactment, and enforcement of religious accommodation statutory and regulatory guidance. Historically, the armed services have supported religious freedom and, when possible, accommodated service members' religious beliefs and practices. Maintaining a proper balance between religious accommodations will promote military readiness, unit cohesion, and good order and discipline. This should not present challenges to the military services. Chaplains have always been vital to our military. One of the strengths of our military is its diversity with mutual respect. And as such, it has been important for Congress to work with the Department of Defense to ensure that appropriate statutory and regulatory guidance is in place in order for the services to meet the important spiritual and religious needs of our troops. Recognizing that there have been challenges in accommodating religious practices and beliefs, we have engaged in various efforts to clarify the role of religion in the military, prevent religious discrimination, and provide appropriate religious accommodations for those service members who seek it. Our goal today is to better understand how the Department of Defense has balanced the implementation of the religious accommodations policy with maintaining military readiness, unit cohesion, and good order and discipline.