In First, Navy to Deploy Secular Chaplains
The US Navy will soon be deploying 21 “Deployed Resiliency Counselors” (DRCs):
The counseling and support services provided by the DRC are preventative in nature, aimed at addressing life challenges such as adjustment to deployments, separation from friends and family, relationship and family issues, and other challenges to military life. The DRCs are also fully trained to provide an extra layer of support to any victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, assuring that there are no gaps in support services.
In addition, the DRC will provide psycho-educational training on a variety of topics as suicide prevention, stress reduction and substance abuse prevention.
That is, of course, essentially the role of military chaplains — without the provider having an officially religious background. The press release notes the DRCs “will work in close collaboration” with the chaplains.
The civilian position was apparently “mandated as part of the new Sexual Assault Response Program initiatives,” though the role is clearly broader than that. The counselors will be the deployed equivalent of the Navy’s Clinical Counselors at their Fleet and Family Support Centers.
Along with the Military Family Life Consultants already available, it would seem some atheists who have been demanding “atheist chaplains” have essentially lost the basis for their argument, at least in the Navy.
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Well, no, the essential role of chaplains is to provide Religious Support, and to guarantee that all service members are guaranteed their First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion. The rest is secondary.
@BC
You inserted hierarchy where none was intended, and thus read something into it not written. I doubt you will find many chaplains who disagree that their role includes helping soldiers address such “life challenges.”