The Army Chaplain Corps celebrated its 250th anniversary on Tuesday following the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary in June.
According to the Department of Defense, the Army Chaplain Corps was created on July 29, 1775, to support Army soldiers following the establishment of the U.S. Army on June 14, 1775.
In a statement released by the Department of Defense, Army Chaplain Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., who currently serves as the 36th Army chief of chaplains, said, “The members of today’s Army Chaplain Corps are sustaining and enriching a sacred legacy, which our predecessors began building even before our nation was founded in 1776.”
Green added, “Gen. George Washington requested that chaplains be added to the Army to meet soldiers’ religious and spiritual needs, and to support good morals and morale.”
Green explained that the Continental Congress honored Washington’s request to authorize an Army chaplain for each of the Continental Army’s regiments. He also noted that chaplains were appointed to serve some of the militia regiments that supported the Continental Army after its formation in 1775.
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According to the Department of Defense, the Army Chaplain Corps currently has over 3,000 chaplains, almost 3,000 religious affairs specialists, over 500 chaplain candidates, and over 50 directors of religious education. The department noted that the Army Chaplain Corps serves the Army, the Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve by providing advice and religious support.
“Our U.S. Army Chaplain Corps is the most multifaceted and capable chaplaincy in history, and we will remain so, to support our Army’s preparations to win during multidomain and large-scale combat operations in the years ahead,” Green stated. “Our corps is a unique branch of the total Army that remains a necessary, critical contributor to our nation’s success on the battlefields of the future, just as it was on the battlefields during our nation’s war for independence.”
A picture shared Monday by the Army Chaplain Corps on X, formerly Twitter, shows Green and Regimental Sgt. Maj. Meaghan Simmons laying a wreath at Chaplains Hill, which is located at Arlington National Cemetery, in honor of the Army Chaplain Corps’ 250th anniversary.
The Army Chaplain Corps also released a video on social media highlighting its 250 years of service to the U.S. military. In the video, a narrator can be heard saying, “From the day that the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps was formed, chaplains have stood beside soldiers. Unarmed but unwavering, they carried faith into the fiercest fights-their presence in every conflict.”
