George Washington founded the Army Chaplain Corps 250 years ago because he knew it was wrong to ask his troops to give the ultimate sacrifice while depriving them of the religious support they needed. Recently, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced renewed attention to the Chaplain Corps, giving the Trump administration and Congress an opportunity to reinforce its strength for the next 250 years.

The Justice Department, through the Religious Liberty Commission, has already taken a first step in a similar direction, recently holding a hearing on religious liberty in the military. I was honored to be invited to outline for the commission what military chaplains do and how their role is supported by the Constitution and federal law. As Hegseth and senior military leadership take a closer look at this matter, there are several structural and legal principles they should keep in mind.

First, the chaplaincy is necessary to fulfill the government’s constitutional duty of respecting the religious freedom of our men and women in uniform. Religious liberty is core to what makes America a great nation. In the context of military service, the First Amendment’s promise creates an additional duty to provide for religious exercise.

That’s because those who answer the call to defend our nation leave their families and faith communities to be deployed to new and foreign places. They are asked to take on challenging, stressful, and grueling duties far from the support structures the rest of us take for granted. And that’s why the chaplaincy exists: to bring God to soldiers on the........

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