US Troops Were Told Iran War Is For 'Armageddon,' Return Of Jesus

A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God's plan and that President Donald Trump was“anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,” according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer.

From Saturday morning through Monday night, more than 110 similar complaints about commanders in every branch of the military had been logged by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).

The complaints came from more than 40 different units spread across at least 30 military installations, the MRFF told me Monday night.

The MRFF is keeping the complainants anonymous to prevent retribution by the Defense Department. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to my request for comment.

One complainant identified themselves as a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in a unit currently outside the Iran combat zone but in Ready-Support status, deployable at any time. The NCO said they were Christian and emailed the MRFF on behalf of 15 troops, including at least 11 Christians, one Muslim and one Jew. (Full email printed below.)

The NCO wrote to the MRFF that their commander“urged us to tell our troops that this was 'all part of God's divine plan' and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has enshrined evangelical Christianity at the uppermost levels of the US military, airing monthly prayer meetings throughout the Pentagon. Last year, the Pentagon confirmed to me that Hegseth attends a weekly White House Bible study. It's led by a preacher who says God commands America to support Israel.

Monday's email from the NCO said that their commander's remarks“destroy morale and unit cohesion and are in violation of the oaths we swore to support the [C]onstitution.”

MRFF President and Founder Mikey Weinstein, a veteran of the Air Force and the Reagan White House, told me that since the US and Israel attacked Iran early Saturday morning, the MRFF has been“inundated” with similar complaints:

Weinstein cited constitutional and Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) prohibitions against injecting religious beliefs into official military instruction or messaging.

He said,“Any military members seeking to take advantage of their subordinates by advancing their blood-soaked, Christian nationalist wet dreams upon the flames of this latest non-Congressionally sanctioned attack against Iran, should be swiftly, aggressively and visibly prosecuted.”

Weinstein added that the MRFF receives similar complaints about Christian eschatology - end-of-the-world theology -“whenever this shit blows up with Israel in the Middle East.”

After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, for instance, the MRFF reported a complaint about an Air Force commander who said at a briefing that,“[T]he war between Israel and Hamas has all been foretold by the Book of Revelation in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and no one can do anything about that.”

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