The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/department-of-defense)
The Pentagon’s decision to eliminate more than 180 religious affiliation codes has prompted swift responses from Pagan organizations, veterans, and chaplaincy advocates who warn that reduced visibility can lead to reduced protections for minority faith communities.
The Department of Defense has reduced its recognized religious affiliation codes from more than 200 to just 31, eliminating Pagans, Asatru, Druidry, and Wicca, along with numerous other minority faiths and secular worldviews, in a move officials say will streamline chaplaincy support for service members.
Hung Cao’s past warnings about “witchcraft” resurface as he assumes a top Navy role, raising concerns about religious discrimination and minority faith rights amid Pentagon efforts to reshape policy for a diverse force.
Over the course of the 2010s, it felt as though Heathens in the U.S. military made steady, if slow, progress on their religious rights. Pete Hegseth claims to have reversed all those gains in a matter of weeks. Karl E.H. Seigfried considers where Heathens go from here.
A now verified Pentagon memorandum circulating online suggests new scrutiny of religious grooming exemptions for service members, raising concerns among Pagan and Heathen practitioners and echoing tensions following earlier controversial “Nordic Pagan” remarks by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in 2025.