A legitimate question that all new members of the military (or those aspiring to be) have is to what degree they will be able to exercise their religious faith while in the service.  Regardless of the service, the role of the US military corps of Chaplains is to ensure the troops’ access to free exercise of their religion, as well as act as a focal point for the protection of religious freedom within the military.  Such freedoms are restricted only as necessary by the needs of the military mission.

While an occasional complaint makes the news implying that the military supports only a single religion, a veritable plethora of counterexamples undermine that claim.  Recently, the Pulaski County Daily noted the long list of spiritual services the Chaplains provided in order to support the increasing diversity of worship needs in the US military:

That diversity includes numerous Roman Catholic and several “collective Protestant” worship services, denominational on-post chapel services including Lutheran, Episcopalian, Church of Christ, several different types of evangelical worship services, and Latter-Day Saints worship, along with accommodation for off-post Seventh Day Adventist worship on Saturday. Three non-Christian faiths also have on-post chapel services, with Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist services held in various locations.

Numerous special-interest religious activities are also sponsored by the chaplain’s office, ranging from various Roman Catholic groups such as the Knights of Columbus and Catholic activities for women and youth, to a Korean-language nondenominational Bible study, a denominational Bible study for Lutherans, a “Gospel Bible study,” various Protestant youth and Sunday School groups, and traditional Army organizations such as Protestant Women of the Chapel, Protestant Men of the Chapel, and Officers Christian Fellowship…

While less than a half of one percent of all Fort Leonard Wood soldiers are Muslim, the post sponsors two different Islamic worship services…

An older article by Army public affairs noted that while some units may not have Chaplains from minority faiths, the military still ensures that troops from those groups have the spiritual support that they need.  The Chaplains in the article, both Christian, personally ensured the religious freedoms of those of their faith as well as Wiccans and Native Americans.

Make no mistake: the military is by no means perfect.  However, as an institution it makes admirable and generally successful efforts to ensure that the religious freedoms of its members are protected.