The government offers a straightforward answer in Title 10, which directs chaplains to conduct weekly worship services and perform burial rites. While accurate, this description is notably brief. In practice, each branch of the Armed Services expands upon these responsibilities in ways that reflect its unique culture and mission. When one considers the full scope …
Cooperation Without Compromise
It was 1980 when I drove my red 1960 Volkswagen Beetle from Wake Forest, North Carolina, to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. I can still picture the moment I crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge—the wind gusting so fiercely that I wondered if it might push my small car over the side and into the water. The …
Guest Blogger: Air Force Commissioned Officer Training
I had heard that Commissioned Officer Training was easier than the enlisted side’s Basic Military Training, or even the Officer Training School, because we chaplains were part of the professional corps. In fact, I heard some stories that included tales of playing golf that made COT seem like a club, complete with housekeeping and gourmet …
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Hoping to Hitch a Ride
On a training exercise with my medical unit in Northern Oregon, the troops were divided into two camps. Some of the personnel were at the Biak Training Center near Bend, while the others were more than two hundred miles away, at Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center over on the Pacific Coast, not too far …
Chaplains in Jets!
Sometimes chaplains have just plain fun adventures, like my ride in a training fighter jet...
Friendship, Availability, Character, and Trust: F.A.C.T.
Building trust among the people in the command is essential for a chaplain who wants to be effective and successful, but it can be tricky. It is a known fact that people in the military will be watching their chaplain, and they’ll determine whether they trust you by what they see and hear. If they …
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Breaking Barriers
"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: …
One of the Best I Ever Served With
I've been fortunate to have some INCREDIBLE Chaplain Assistants/Religious Program Specialists!
Flavors of Ministry: Life as a Chaplain
I learned that ministry takes many different flavors and provides many different opportunities. It made bringing God to Soldiers and Soldiers to God easier!!!
Unexpected Partners
“Ministry can take many shapes. Some chaplains work in a chapel environment. Some chaplains never preach from behind a pulpit. They might serve communion from the tailgate of a Hummer or a truck….” ~ Military Ministry: Chaplains in the Twenty-First Century (page 187) There hadn’t been a chaplain at the small FOB during the three years …
Military Chaplain Guide 