Maj. Gen. William Green Jr.

Maj. Gen. William “Bill” Green Jr. served as the 26th Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Army — the senior chaplain in the Army, responsible for the religious support of its soldiers, families, and civilians — until Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth removed him on April 2, 2026, three days before Easter.¹² No reason was publicly stated for the removal. The head of the Military Chaplains Association called it “unprecedented,” and Baptist News Global reported it as the first time in history a chief of chaplains had been fired by a Secretary of Defense.¹³

An enlisted soldier who became the Army’s senior chaplain

Green is a native of Savannah, Georgia, who grew up on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.³ After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Army as a cannon crewman and a field radio repairman — an enlisted beginning, not an officer’s one.³ In 1986 he left active duty to pursue theological education and ordination.³

He returned to school in uniform’s rearview: a 1989 graduate of Savannah State University with a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice as a Distinguished Military Graduate, and a 1992 graduate of Emory University with a Master of Divinity from the Candler School of Theology.³ In 1994 he became a U.S. Army chaplain, endorsed by the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. — the oldest and largest Black Baptist denomination in the country, which USA Today notes emphasizes African Americans’ dignity and liberation.³² The Army’s own announcement of his appointment describes him as an ordained minister who served in multiple key assignments and on multiple deployments supporting a wide array of Army units.⁴

Those assignments spanned the force: chaplaincy leadership positions in the Pentagon on multiple tours, plus Fort Shafter in Hawaii, Joint Base Lewis–McChord in Washington, Wiesbaden in Germany, Fort Jackson in South Carolina, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Camp Casey in Korea, and Fort Sill in Oklahoma.³ His decorations include the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal with silver and bronze oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and the Army Staff Badge.³

The 26th chief of chaplains

Green began serving as chief of chaplains on June 20, 2023, and was formally appointed to the position on December 5, 2023, becoming the third Black American to hold it.¹⁴ As chief, he led the Army Chaplain Corps in providing religious support to soldiers, families, and civilians across the service.⁴

In mid-2025, under Green, the Army introduced “The Army Spiritual Fitness Guide” — a 112-page document, by press accounts, that promoted resilience through secular principles.¹ That guide became the first public flashpoint with Hegseth. In December 2025, Hegseth scrapped it, saying it promoted “secular humanism,” referenced God only once, and never referenced virtue.¹ “Our chaplains are chaplains, not emotional support officers, and we’re going to treat them as such,” Hegseth said at the time.¹ USA Today’s reporting adds that Hegseth had tossed out the guide in December lamenting its lack of explicit references to God, held Christian prayer services at the Pentagon with controversial pastors, and framed elements of the war in Iran in biblical terms.² Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, spoke in favor of removing the guide in January, condemning efforts to “reduce the chaplaincy to either social work or cheerleading.”¹

The April 2 firing and its fallout

Green’s removal came on the same day Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down and immediately retire, and ousted Gen. David M. Hodne, commanding general of the Army Transformation and Training Command — a single-day shakeup of the Army’s top brass.¹² A Defense Department official confirmed Green’s removal to EWTN News but offered no reason; no reason has been publicly stated, and Green has not publicly commented on his removal.¹

The reaction turned on the position’s statutory protection. The Rev. Razz Waff, executive director of the Military Chaplains Association, told EWTN News that chiefs of chaplains are appointed to “four-year statutory, written-in-law terms,” making the dismissal “unprecedented.” “Really, there should be a for-cause reason, and in this case there is no for-cause reason,” Waff said, adding that Green was “doing an absolutely great job.”¹ Ronit Stahl, a UC Berkeley professor and author of Enlisting Faith: How the Military Chaplaincy Shaped Religion and State in Modern America, told USA Today that gaps between chiefs of chaplains in the past had usually come from pre-planned retirement, and that the position’s four-year term often spans presidential administrations — Green had begun the post under President Joe Biden in December 2023.²

USA Today’s lead expert reaction framed the practical cost: one expert called the removal “extraordinarily odd,” and the Rev. Jonathan Shaw — director of church relations for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, who retired as an Army chaplain colonel in 2020 after nearly 40 years of service — said losing the chief leaves an “enormous gap.” “You can’t ride that very long,” Shaw said of running the chaplaincy without a chief, “in a very dynamic profession.”²

Lawmakers weighed in along familiar lines. Sen. Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, criticized the removal as done “without explanation” and accused the administration of “pushing out senior officers for seemingly no valid reason”; Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, said Green had served “with honor and distinction” and called it “silencing our voices of conscience” amid the Iran war.¹² Rep. Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska and a retired Air Force brigadier general, said that although Hegseth has the authority to fire military leaders, “it is not morally right nor wise.”² The Rev. Boise Kimber, president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., said Green’s firing “raises serious and troubling questions that deserve transparency and accountability,” warning against “partisan agendas” undermining institutions “built on merit, sacrifice and service.”² The Military Religious Freedom Foundation told USA Today it had received “several scores” of complaints from service members “infuriated” by Green’s removal.² Green declined to comment to USA Today.²

What this profile does not claim

This profile does not state a reason for Green’s removal — no reason has been publicly stated by the Defense Department, and the profile records that absence rather than filling it. It does not assert his promotion history before the chaplaincy post (deputy chief of chaplains, brigadier and major general promotions), which no fully-read source documents. It does not name a successor or acting chief beyond the Army spokeswoman’s statement that religious support operations continue under the Deputy Chief of Chaplains. It does not repeat claims about internal Pentagon deliberations or motives, which are attributed reporting at best.

Footnotes

1. “Defense Secretary Hegseth removes top Army chaplain amid Iran war, chaplaincy reform,” Catholic World Report, Apr 6, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

2. BrieAnna J. Frank, “Pete Hegseth’s ouster of Army’s top chaplain leaves ‘enormous gap’,” USA Today, Apr 25, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. “For first time ever, Army chief of chaplains fired — by Hegseth,” Baptist News Global, Apr 6, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

4. “Chief of Chaplains,” U.S. Army (army.mil). ↩ ↩² ↩³