Abstract
This chapter explores the role and history of military chaplains. Religion has been a part of the US military since its infancy under the Continental Congress. As the number of chaplains has grown and the role has become more formalized, they have absorbed other functions. They are teachers, formal military event leaders, social workers, mental health counselors, aids to command, and more. Chaplains have become integrated into the military ethos. They are the military’s symbolic representation of moral exceptionalism. The oft-cited “two-collar problem” chaplains discuss is nominally about feeling torn between commitments to their faith and the military organization. However, it is about managing deeply habituated theological and moral obligations (one collar) that the military has redefined (the other collar).
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