This Week in DOW: Border Defense Medal; Warrior Dividend; Reforming Chaplain Corps

This week, military families got a welcome surprise when the president told the nation that service members would receive a special pay bonus as a gift from the nation, just in time for Christmas.

"President [Donald J.] Trump announced the 'Warrior Dividend,' a special one-time bonus for over 1.4 million warfighters that is currently on the way and will be in their bank accounts before Christmas," Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said today during the department's Weekly Sitrep video. "In honor of our nation's founding in 1776, our warfighters will be receiving $1,776. The Warrior Dividend proves, once again, President Trump and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth's complete and total commitment to the troops."

Hegseth said the dividend represents the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States and the history of the service military members have given in defense of the nation, even before its creation.

"Our great nation was founded in the crucible of revolution in [1776]," Hegseth said in a video posted earlier this week to social media. "Now, as we enter the Christmas season, some 250 years later, we are proud to provide 1776 with a whole new modern meaning for our joint force. ... Thanks to President Trump's unwavering commitment to our warriors and the provisions provided in the One Big, Beautiful Bill, more than 1.45 million service members will, in the coming days, receive a one-time, tax-free bonus of $1,776."

Also, this week, the president and Hegseth teamed up at the White House to recognize service members who have been defending the U.S.-Mexico border.

"On Monday, Secretary Hegseth joined President Trump at the White House to honor the warfighters securing our border with the Mexican Border Defense Medal," she said.

The medal recognizes service members who deployed as part of Joint Task Force Southern Border to the U.S.-Mexico border to provide military support for the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"Since January 2025, Joint Task Force Southern Border has deployed over 8,500 personnel, intercepting cartel operations, stopping fentanyl flows and securing our border once again," Wilson said.

The secretary said border security is a core mission of the military and is about defending the U.S. in its own hemisphere.

"It's getting down to that border and getting control of it; and whether it's hanging concertina wire and reinforcing fencing or patrolling ... you guys have jumped at the mission, gotten after it, and I think it's been six months of effectively zero crossings on the southern border, which [was] the goal," the secretary told medal recipients during the White House ceremony.

The secretary this week also kicked off an effort to reform the Chaplain Corps within the military - those uniformed men and women who tend to the spiritual needs of their fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and guardians.

"Secretary Hegseth made a major announcement this week: the reformation of the Chaplain Corps," Wilson said. "For decades, the degradation of the Chaplain Corps has persisted with little to no pushback due to political correctness and secular humanism."

As part of the initial reform effort, the secretary directed the Army to discontinue use of an existing "spiritual fitness guide," and also said the department would simplify its "faith and belief coding system."

"More reforms will be coming in the days and weeks ahead," Hegseth said in a video posted to social media. "There will be a top-down cultural shift putting spiritual well-being on the same footing as mental and physical health, as a first step toward creating a supportive environment for our warriors and their souls. We're going to restore the esteemed position of chaplains as moral anchors for our fighting force."

In advance of Christmas, the secretary and his wife, Jennifer, hosted a special Christmas Worship Service in the Pentagon Courtyard, with the Rev. Franklin Graham leading prayers.

"Both the secretary and [Rev. Graham] spoke about the reason for the season, celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, prayed for our warfighters defending our freedoms across the globe and sang in worship along with many of our colleagues here at the Department of War," Wilson said.

During the worship service, Hegseth acknowledged the War Department workforce.

"You, each day, are asked to do impossible things, work impossible hours, at impossible odds, which mere men and women could not do," he said. "And that's why we bend the knee, because we know where our strength comes from, and we need that wisdom and that guidance, that providential guide in our own lives as we try to act on behalf of our nation."

Graham said it was an honor to be invited to participate in the worship service, adding that he's been impressed by the welcome embrace of faith by the administration.

"It's not just the [War] Department's top leader, but it's our president - his support of faith and supporting Christmas and supporting our military the way he does," Graham said. "It's an honor to be here and to be at the Pentagon with these men and women who defend our nation and who put their [lives] on the line."

Finally, over the weekend, the Army announced the loss of two soldiers and an American civilian. Those fallen Americans are Army Sgts. William Howard and Edgar Torres Tovar, both part of the Iowa Army National Guard, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, who was working as an interpreter. The three men were part of an ongoing counter-ISIS, counterterrorism operation.

"[They] were ambushed and killed in Syria by Islamic terrorists," Wilson said.

Hegseth and the president were at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, to participate in the dignified transfer of the remains, Dec. 17.

"Our hearts go out to their families and colleagues, and we lift them up in prayer for strength and comfort during this time of grief," Wilson said.