Lt. Col. John Painter is the wing chaplain at Charleston Air Force Base and the staff chaplain at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston.  He has served servicemembers in war as well as their families back home.

Regardless of the religious denomination, Painter serves as an everyday spiritual needs adviser, providing religious consulting and assisting in guiding service members and their families throughout life’s trials and tribulations.

Painter explicitly understood the need for a chaplain in combat:

According to Painter, a combat-zone is one of the most important places a chaplain’s work is needed.

“I discussed ageless military deployment anxieties with service members while on assignment in Iraq; such as being away from home or the fear of dying,” said Painter.

While deployed to Iraq in 2009, he was also integral to the ability of US servicemembers to visit the ziggurat of Ur, a 3000-year-old Sumerian structure in the city known as the birthplace of Abraham — recognized as the father of the three major world religions.

Chaplains serve members of the military in many roles, making sacrifices of their own along the way.