The U.S. Department of Defense cut the number of recognized religion codes it uses from roughly 211 to 31 on May 20, and Native American religion was moved into the “other” category. The change came in a memorandum from Under Secretary of War Elbridge A. Colby and signed by Anthony Tata.
That matters because those Religious Affiliation Codes help shape dog tags for active duty members, guide chaplains in providing religious support, and are used in headstones for service members. The department said members will not be limited to that list when choosing information for their identification tags, but the narrower code set still stripped Native American religion of its own line.
The new list keeps 21 Christian sects as distinct codes and leaves ten broader categories, including Agnostic, Baha’i faith, Buddhism, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Hindu, Islam, Judaism, No Religion, Other Religion and Sikh. For Native American service members, the effect is immediate and plain: a faith once recognized on its own is now folded into a catchall.
Frances Dupris, who served 24 years in the Air Force as a United States Air Force Master Sargent, said Native Americans are once again being placed in the “other” category. She asked, “Why not reduce it further?” and added, “Why not just say ‘This individual has a religious preference.’ Why pick and choose only these faiths?”
The Department of Defense says the loss of a separate Native American code does not mean Native religious practices will stop being protected or recognized, and that they can still be recorded under “other.” But that answer does not settle the larger question raised by the rewrite: whether a system that still singles out 21 Christian sects while folding Native American religion into a general bucket is neutral classification or a quieter shift in direction. For Native American service members, chaplains, and families waiting on headstones that reflect belief accurately, the answer will be measured in practice, not policy language.
