“Interestingly, although the chaplain has to be an ordained representative of an acknowledged faith group, the Chaplain Assistant does not have to be religious at all. We’ve worked with all kinds of Chaplain Assistants: religious and non-religious, Christian and non-Christian, ministry-minded and non-ministry-minded, personable and stand-offish, good and bad, male and female.”
~ Military Ministry: Chaplain in the Twenty-First Century, page 102
I have worked with some fantastic Religious Affairs Specialists in the Army. Most of them were well trained, hard working, spiritually minded NCOs who were also my friends. Some were so respected throughout the command that their presence made my effectiveness as a chaplain even better. Tina was one of those.
The following story took place before she came to my command, but it shows a lot about her character and her approach to her role as a Religious Affairs Specialist, which we used to call a Chaplain Assistant.
As a Sergeant First Class, she was assigned to a military hospital in Germany and it didn’t take long to discover that most of the people had a strong dislike and disrespect for chaplains and anyone associated with the chaplain. Even worse, the chaplain she worked with was part of the problem. As hard as she tried, she was frustrated because there seemed to be no inroad for building relationships and doing ministry.
She began to pray more fervently, “Lord, show me how to break down the barriers these people have put up so that I can make a difference in their lives and in the command.”
A few weeks later, the commander “invited” the whole unit to a command-sponsored 10K run, and she had to participate just like everyone else. As they got ready to start, she overheard some of the faster runners in the group making derogatory and snide remarks about being saddled with another lame chaplain and Chaplain Assistant. What they didn’t know was that this NCO had been a distance runner throughout her life and was in great shape. To everyone’s surprise, she smoked them all, finishing first . . . well ahead of their best runners. Suddenly, she had earned their respect, and everything changed.
The Lord answered Tina’s prayer and opened the door for effectively having an impact in the Soldiers’ lives. They started coming to her for guidance, prayer, professional development questions, and friendship.
When her assignment with that command came to an end, she and I worked together for several years. She was still a runner. She had that same reputation and impact among the Soldiers and civilians that I served. Many came to her before they would come to me. But that was OK because we truly complemented each other in the Religious Support Office.
— CH (COL) Paul Linzey, USA, Ret.
Military Chaplain Guide 