The terminology war aside, why are Humanist chaplains in the military so necessary? (And why do we even have military chaplains in the first place?)
Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, appeared on The Alyona Show (airing on the network formerly known as Russia Today, with host Alyona Minkovski) to answer those questions:
In short, the military’s not going to get rid of chaplains anytime soon — that’s a separate battle and one we’re not likely to win anytime soon. But as it stands, atheists who want to talk to someone for professional counseling or want to attend a morale-boosting event have no one to turn to outside of religious chaplains, who often have nothing to offer atheists because they only know how to counsel people with a religious mindset. Having a secular alternative to religious chaplains would help alleviate that problem.
MAAF is trying to fix the situation and you can read more about its positions on Chaplains here.