The McGregor Range Chapel in New Mexico, just north of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, provides religious services to some 16,000 transient troops in training each year: 

An average of 16,000 National Guardsmen and Reservists a year live and train throughout the 606,000-acre complex located about a half-hour’s drive north of Fort Bliss. Having a well-maintained place of worship is important for those who seek religious and spiritual consolation in such an isolated environment. The chapel is also where chaplains attached to deploying units can give religious services and prepare for a full-time ministry.

The 60-year old chapel had fallen into some disrepair, so volunteers spruced it up a bit so worshipers in the future can focus on why they’re there.

McGregor Range has the ability to host a variety of missions, including missile firing, conducted during unit pre-deployment training.

The US military generally does an admirable job of making sure US troops have a place to exercise their faith, whether on the far side of the world or in the deserts of Texas and New Mexico.

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