Arnold E. Resnicoff (born 1946) is an American Conservative rabbi who served as a military officer and military chaplain. He served in Vietnam and Europe beforeLester Westling, "All That Glitters: Memoirs of a Minister," Global Publishing Services, 2003, pp. 229–233 attending rabbinical school. He then served in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps for almost 25 years, ultimately attaining the rank of captain. He promoted the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and delivered the closing prayer at its 1982 dedication. In 1984 the President of the United States spoke on his eyewitness account of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. After retiring from the military he was National Director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee and served as Special Assistant (for Values and Vision) to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, serving at the civilian grade equivalent to brigadier general."Four Chaplains to be honored at inclusion awareness shabbat," Washington Hebrew Congregation, whctemple.org, February 3, 2012 , retrieved March 7, 2012.
Resnicoff holds several degrees, including an honorary doctorate. His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Department of the Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service, and the Chapel of Four Chaplains Hall of Heroes Gold Medallion. In March 2026 he was named as one of the inaugural recipients of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial "Service Beyond Service" award, honoring Vietnam veterans who continued to serve their nation following their return from the war.
Life and works Early military career
Resnicoff's father, a World War II Navy veteran, encouraged Resnicoff to serve with the militaryLibrary of Congress Veterans History Project: Arnold Resnicoff collection, AFC/2001/001/70629, May 2010. as one way for the family to "pay its dues" to America.Globe interview, Military news, Sep 29, 1983Providence Sunday Journal, Feb 3, 1985, "Rabbi Knows Lessons of War." He served as an enlisted man in the Naval Reserves during High School, then after graduation from NROTC at Dartmouth College served in the rivers of Vietnam (and a short time in Cambodia as well, when his ship became the first U.S commissioned vessel to cross the border) as part of "Operation Game Warden," the operation aimed at keeping the rivers free from Viet Cong, and then with Naval Intelligence in Europe before leaving the Navy to attend rabbinical school.
Military chaplaincy Following ordination from JTS in 1976, Resnicoff returned to the Navy as a chaplain, serving in many locations in the United States and overseas.
From 1992 to 1994, Resnicoff served as Command Chaplain for Recruit Training Command ("RTC"), Orlando, Florida, where he was part of the team headed by Captain Kathleen Bruyere that integrated men and women into basic training for the first time,BayLite, The Tampa Tribune, Sept 27, 1992. and created a new chaplain message for the recruits: "Chapel helps you make it through Boot Camp; Faith helps you make it through life."(The Navigator, NTC Orlando, Nov 19, 1992.)
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Resnicoff was part of a group of Vietnam veterans, led by Jan Scruggs, that worked to create the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in Washington, D.C. Scruggs was an Army corporal with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade who had been wounded on the battlefield in Vietnam. On Nov 13, 1982, Resnicoff delivered the closing prayer at the official dedication of "The Wall."Prayer entered into Congressional Record, US Senate, Vol 128, Number 139, Dec 2, 1982.Moore, James P., Jr., The Treasury of American Prayer, Doubleday, 2008.
Beirut Barracks bombing On October 23, 1983, while a chaplain for the United States Sixth Fleet, Resnicoff was present in Beirut, Lebanon, during the suicide truck bomb attack that took the lives of 241 American military personnel, and wounded scores more. He had arrived on Friday, Oct 21, to lead a Memorial Service for Sgt Allen Soifert, a Jewish American Marine killed by sniper fire.New York Post, Nov 22, 1983, "Comrades in Tribute to Fallen Marine."Doran, Andrew, "Pulled From the Pit in Beirut," The American Conservative, Oct 16, 2023 Transportation had been offered to return him to the Sixth Fleet flagship in Gaeta, Italy, on Saturday, but Resnicoff said he could not travel on Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, and would remain in Beirut with the Marines until the following day, when the first truck bomb attack occurred at 6:20AM on Sunday, Oct 23, demolishing the Marine barracks.Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), "Behind the Headlines: Senior U.S. Chaplain Envisions Role for Clergy in Helping to Rebuild Kosovo, June 15, 1999.
Four days after the attack, the White House team that visited Beirut, led by Vice President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, asked for a report on the attack and its aftermath—and on April 13, 1984, President Ronald Reagan read that report as his keynote address to the Rev. Jerry Falwell's "Baptist Fundamentalism '84" convention, in Washington, DC.The American Presidency Project, President Ronald Reagan, "Remarks at the Baptist Fundamentalist Annual Convention," Apr 13, 1984. Speech also reprinted in Modern Day Heroes: In Defense of America, Anderson-Noble Publishing, 2004.]Slomovitz, Albert Isaac, The Fighting Rabbis: Jewish Military Chaplains and American History, New York University Press, New York: 1999. During the delivery of the speech, President Reagan was interrupted by a small group of protestors, holding pre-printed banners, chanting, "Bread, not bombs." Reagan later commented, "Wouldn't it be nice if a little bit of that Marine spirit would rub off, and they would listen [to the chaplain's words] about brotherly love?"
"Camouflage kippa" (skullcap)
During the rescue efforts following the bombing, a Catholic Chaplain named George Pucciarelli tore off a piece of his Marine camouflage uniform to make a skullcap ("kippah") for Resnicoff, after Resnicoff used his to wipe the blood from a wounded Marine's face.Norfolk Ledger Star, Norfolk, VA, Jan 13, 1984, "Rabbi's Camouflage Yarmulke Woven With Tragedy, Heroism" This widely reported story, recounted in President Reagan's 1984 speech, was entered into the Congressional Record.Congressional Record, Vol 133, Number 75, May 11, 1987 The story was credited with helping the passage of the religious apparel amendment allowing military personnel to wear head coverings for religious reasons (an amendment that had failed to pass in the House of Representatives for two years prior to the recounting of this story).Jewish Press, May 22, 1987, Solarz Passes Religious Apparel Amendment This story was also quoted by some military leaders who had previously opposed the uniform policy change, but now supported it, including the Commandant and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.Navy Times, Nov 7, 1983, quotes the impact of this story on Sgt Major of the Marine Corps Robert E. Cleary. This amendment reportedly laid the groundwork for the directive (later, changed to a Department of Defense Instruction) that established wide-ranging changes to official military policies and procedures for the Accommodation of Religious Practices Within the Military Services.Department of Defense InstructionTurley, K.V., National Catholic Register, Oct 21, 2023, "The Priest, the Rabbi, and the Beirut Terrorist Attack of 1983"
Days of Remembrance of the Victims of Holocaust
In 1984, Resnicoff's efforts to convince the United States Department of Defense to participate in the national annual program for the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (DRVH) were successful."Navy Chaplain's efforts lead to Holocaust guide," Intermountain Jewish News, April 8, 1988.
In 1984, the first official year of military involvement, Resnicoff coordinated a meeting between Rabbi Seymour Siegel, Executive Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, and Vice Admiral Edward Martin, Commander, United States Sixth Fleet,The Military Chaplain, Vol. 57, No. 2, March–April 1984. and then conducted the first shipboard Holocaust Days of Remembrance Ceremony, on board , the Sixth Fleet Flagship.The Jewish Week, June 8, 1984, "First Holocaust Observance on U.S. Navy ship, held in Spain."
Gay and lesbian rights Resnicoff worked to support the rights of men and women of all sexual orientations, as well as those of all faiths.Domi, Tanya, “Lesbian Army Captain Remembers Those Who Fought Against Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” The newcivilrightsmovement.com, December 18, 2010. His work has been recognized by long-time advocates of LGBT rights, including his work at the Naval War College as far back as the early 1990s.Domi, Tanya, “On the Eve of Christmas, A Navy Rabbi and Lesbian Army Captain Reunite to Bear Witness to DADT's End,” thenewcivilrightsmovement.com, December 24, 2010. He was later chosen by the White House to deliver the prayer at the Presidential signing ceremony for the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
United States European Command From 1997 to 2000, Resnicoff was the first Jewish Chaplain to serve at the level of Command Chaplain for a Unified Combatant Command, serving as chaplain for the United States European Command (USEUCOM), under the leadership of General Wesley Clark. He served as a principal advisor to General Clark and the USEUCOM staff on matters of religion, ethics, and morals; coordinated religious support for more than 100,000 U.S. military personnel and families of all military branches and all faiths; and served as liaison to the chaplaincies of other nations throughout the USEUCOM area of responsibility (AOR), leading and coordinating three International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conferences in Europe, where he introduced a new vision of the potential role of chaplains as liaisons to religious leaders,William Sean Lee, Christopher Burke, and Zonna M. Crayne, "Military Chaplains as Peace Builders: Embracing Indigenous Religions in Stability Operations", Air Force Fellows Research Report (Air University, 2004), p. 15. and of religion as a force for peace and conflict resolution,Christian Science Monitor, Mar 4, 1999, "Taking Faith to the New Front Lines" and for reconciliation after the battles.Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), Daily News, Vol 77, No. 113, Jun 17, 1999, "Chaplain Envisions Role of Clergy in Rebuilding Kosovo"
During the time of American involvement in Bosnia and Kosovo, he worked with U.S. and NATO troops, civilian relief workers, political and military leaders, religious representatives, and refugees, and represented the military in the first conference of religious seminary students from Kosovo, Bosnia, Albania, and Macedonia;Seminarians Make Peace in the Balkans, Raymond Helmick, America:The National Catholic Weekly, Aug 12, 2000 and led a delegation representing the four official religions of Bosnia—Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Muslim, and Jewish—on an historic visit to the U.S.USAFA Bio.
Sixth Fleet and Israel
In 1983, Resnicoff held the first interfaith service (and first service jointly attended by men and women) held at the Western Wall since it came under Israel's control, conducted under the supervision of the Israel Ministry of Religious Affairs, as part of a special welcome for the U.S. Sixth Fleet.Jerusalem Post, Sep 5, 1983, and Jerusalem Post International Edition, Sep 11–17, 1983, "U.S. Navy Chaplain Conducts Western Wall Interfaith Litany"Borschel-Dan, Amanda, "The Day Israel Gave Its Blessing to Egalitarian Prayer at Western Wall," The Times of Israel, Jun 30, 2017 He also led Israel's first official Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremony, held in the President's residence.