{"id":20414,"date":"2012-12-11T02:51:27","date_gmt":"2012-12-11T05:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=20414"},"modified":"2012-12-11T02:51:27","modified_gmt":"2012-12-11T05:51:27","slug":"us-military-chaplains-they-go-where-you-go-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/11\/us-military-chaplains-they-go-where-you-go-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"US Military Chaplains: They Go Where You Go, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been noted here many times before that chaplains in the US military travel the world with US troops, even to one-off places [the South Pole<\/a>].<\/p>\n

It should go without saying that chaplains follow their troops into combat, as well.\u00a0 Many are familiar with the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan <\/em>and Part 3 of Band of Brothers<\/em>, which dramatize the real-life service of\u00a0chaplains serving under fire.\u00a0 In the movies, they are unfazed (and unstruck) by the bullets landing around them:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From Saving Private Ryan<\/em>, a chaplain gives last rites during the assault on Omaha Beach.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From Band of Brothers<\/em>, Part 3 (“Carentan”), a chaplain moves from soldier to soldier providing last rites under fire\u00a0as others find cover.<\/p>\n

A recent Army article noted the training chaplains and their assistants go through<\/a> to prepare them, as a team, for the combat environment.\u00a0 In the vast majority of circumstances, US chaplains are unarmed but accompanied by a chaplain’s assistant<\/a> charged with the chaplain’s security.<\/p>\n

“Chaplains are non-combatants,” explained Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Harry C. Huey Jr…”As a result, there is a heavy burden of responsibility upon the chaplain assistant for the security of the chaplain in a deployed environment. Survivability training enables the chaplain to bring something to the table that supports the assistant in maintaining UMT security.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In many cases, chaplains may have no prior military experience, and they may enter the military through “direct accession,” which basically means they go through a very abbreviated boot camp (if one at all).\u00a0 It is imperative, then, that chaplains be explicitly taught how to conduct themselves in a combat environment — because the environment won’t cease to be combat just because they’re in it.<\/p>\n

In this case, their training included a practical exercise:<\/p>\n

Following three-days of training, the UMTs navigated a situational training lane exercise, moving thru a hostile environment to the casualty collection point to provide care for wounded Soldiers…Maintaining a low silhouette, the teams successfully negotiated the danger zone. Before reaching the CCP however, the teams encountered and reacted to two hostile role-players.<\/p>\n

When they reached the CCP, they found five injured Soldiers and a priest needing various degrees of care. The teams quickly reacted and provided pastoral care.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The training is good, as it prepares them for what they may actually see in Afghanistan or other locations even now.<\/p>\n

The “military director” for American Atheists, US Army Sgt Justin Griffith, recently referred to this as “Operation Human Shield<\/a>.”\u00a0 While he meant it pejoratively, it is likely the chaplain’s assistants would <\/em>be willing to take a bullet for their chaplain (though they’d probably prefer no one to get shot at all).\u00a0 Their job, after all, is to protect a fellow Soldier who is unarmed.<\/p>\n

While Griffith is entitled to his mockery (in his defense, a lot of military training is easily mocked), he repeated his\u00a0incorrect mantra from last year when he said:<\/p>\n

Modern chaplains are specifically ordered to stay off the front lines.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He apparently qualified it with “modern” to rebut those who have pointed out chaplains have long been “on the front lines,” and some have even received\u00a0the Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n

Not only does no such “order” banning chaplains from combat exist, the opposite <\/em>is true:\u00a0 As routinely observed here, chaplains go everywhere troops go — including the front lines.<\/p>\n

Despite Griffith’s staunch claims, two chaplains have died as a result of combat<\/em><\/strong><\/a> just in recent years — one as a result of a wound in Iraq<\/a>, the other in Afghanistan<\/a>.\u00a0 (A chaplain assistant also died in combat<\/a> in a separate incident.)\u00a0 That Sgt Griffith disagrees with chaplains risking their lives to serve others does not create an “order” saying they are forbidden to do so.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this discussion brought Griffith back to his George Costanza-like retort that “there are no chaplains in foxholes<\/a>:”<\/p>\n

The foxhole is a fighting position. Chaplains do not fight. If he somehow fell into a foxhole, it would actually just be a hole.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As noted above, combat does not cease to be combat simply because a person is a non-combatant.\u00a0 A fighting position — or a fighting vehicle like a Humvee, MRAP<\/a>, or helo — does not suddenly become a hole or “sedan” just because a chaplain is in it.<\/p>\n

US military chaplains go wherever US troops go, where they protect their religious freedom and enable their ability to practice their faith.<\/p>\n

They go where you <\/em>go.\u00a0 Even to the front lines.\u00a0 As the LA Times<\/em> noted a few years ago<\/a>:<\/p>\n

From the back of the MRAP, the chaplain piped up once more across the intercom.<\/p>\n

\u201cYea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me,\u201d [the chaplain] said. \u201cThy .50-cal. and 240, they comfort me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been noted here many times before that chaplains in the US military travel the world with US troops, even to one-off places [the South Pole]. It should go without saying that chaplains follow their troops into combat, as well.\u00a0 Many are familiar with the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan and Part 3 of Band of Brothers, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[236,88,20,5284,3743,52,1055,2,10,171],"class_list":["post-20414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chaplain","tag-american-atheists","tag-army","tag-atheism","tag-chaplain","tag-harry-huey","tag-iraq","tag-justin-griffith","tag-military","tag-religion","tag-religious-freedom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}