Defense

Hegseth Vows to Protect Religious Greetings at an Air Force Base

Multiple people, including practicing Christians, had complained that guards at a New Mexico base were greeting them with religious phrases.

US Australia Hegseth

Secularism in the military has been dramatically upended under Hegseth, who has sought to enjoin the department and the conservative evangelical movement. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

By Angie Orellana Hernandez

September 4, 2026 05:04 p.m.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signaled Friday that he would challenge a nonprofit’s attempt to halt religious greetings by military personnel at the front gates of a New Mexico Air Force base.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for the separation of church and state within the military, said in a press release Thursday that it received 34 complaints — 24 of which were sent by practicing Christians — regarding guards saying “Have a blessed day” or “God bless you” to people arriving at the base’s gates.

Hegseth called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation a “radical anti-Christian, pro-atheist group that attacks any/all faith” inside the Defense Department in a Friday X post.