The U.S. Air Force now requires chaplains to wear the chaplain rank insignia and allows pregnant airmen to sport a maternity wrap dress.
The service released the chaplain uniform update in accordance with the March Department of Defense guidance on military chaplain uniform reform, according to a Wednesday release.
“Effective immediately, but no later than 30 days from the date of this memorandum, Department of the Air Force Chaplains will wear the chaplain insignia in lieu of officer rank insignia on the chest of the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) uniform,” the memo, dated June 15, reads.
The memo first circulated on the unofficial Air Force Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco on the day of its signing. An Air Force spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the memo to Military Times on Wednesday.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced in March that military chaplains would display symbols of their faith instead of rank insignia, saying that “A chaplain is first and foremost a chaplain and an officer second. This change is a visual representation of that fact.”
Before this policy switch, a chaplain wore their rank insignia alongside a symbol of their faith.
The Air Force’s move to comply with the policy comes a week after the U.S. Navy announced that Navy chaplains would be disregarding rank insignias. As of Wednesday, the Air Force, which also includes the Space Force, and the Navy are the only two branches that have released official updates to their policy in line with the DoD guidance.
The Air Force said in the Wednesday statement that chaplains will now wear the chaplain insignia instead of the officer rank insignia on their OPC uniform, patrol cap, tactical cap and outer garments, but there will be no change to their service dress uniform.
Even though rank won’t be worn in OCPs, airmen are still expected to perform “established customs and courtesies,” the release reads, such as salutes and verbal greetings and addresses.
Chaplains in the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard are expected to wear the chaplain insignia no later than 60 days from the announcement, per the memo.
“Instances of non-compliance require justification, corrective action plans, and will be reported to [the Air Force Chief of Chaplains] monthly until full compliance is achieved,” the memo states.
Alongside the new guidance for military chaplain uniforms, the service released updates to dress for pregnant airmen that allows them to wear the maternity wrap dress as a mess dress, semi-formal and Class A uniform, with a mandatory wear day of July 2030.
Although a metal engraved name tag is required to be worn with the Class A configuration, name tags are not allowed on the mess or semi-formal configurations, the release says.
All stateside Army & Air Force Exchange Service stores are expected to be stocked with the wrap dress by the end of June, and overseas locations will be stocked within a couple of months.
On the AAFES website, the wrap dress will be available soon, the announcement says.
The release notes that Space Force guardians are not authorized to wear the maternity wrap dress and will instead continue to wear the Air Force jumper. A new Space Force maternity uniform is slated to be available in 2027 as it is currently still in a prototype phase.
Cristina Stassis is a reporter covering stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She previously worked as an editorial fellow for Defense News in 2024 where she assisted the newsroom in breaking news across Sightline Media Group.
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