Category Archives: Chaplain

Chaplains Continue Support in Afghanistan

Kabul Chapel

Even as the war in Afghanistan “ended” last December and US forces have drawn down, US military chaplains continue to serve the needs of US troops on the frontlines:

A Religious Support Team comprised of Airmen assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Chaplain Corps made the pilgrimage to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and Forward Operating Base Oqab to provide spiritual care and religious accommodation to Airmen deployed in austere conditions…

The chaplains Read more

Archbishop Broglio on Chaplains, Military Religious Freedom

Timothy Broglio, Archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, speaking at the 90th anniversary installation and awards luncheon of the Joint Veterans’ Council of Cuyahoga County (JVCOCC), Ohio.

The role of chaplains in preserving our constitutionally protected freedom of religion was addressed by the Rev. Timothy Broglio, archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA…

In speaking about chaplains, Broglio noted that they “can assure that someone in the military is not forced to renounce his First Amendment rights while he or she puts his or her life on the line to defend those rights for the rest of us.”

Broglio said he wanted to join the JVCOCC in saluting all chaplains, “to thank them for making religious liberty not a slogan, but a reality in the armed forces.”

Wise words. Read more about the event. Read more

Commanding General Installs New “Iron Shepherd”

Gen Stephen Twitty, commanding General of the US Army’s 1st Armored Division, recently participated in a ceremony marking the “passing of the stole” from one Chaplain to another:

The 1st Armored Division sent off Lt. Col. Karen L. Meeker, outgoing 1st Armored Division chaplain and welcomed Lt. Col. Thomas S. Helms III as the new 1st AD chaplain during the Division’s Passing of the Stole ceremony here…

Helms assumed the spiritual leadership and pastoral care for the entire division when Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Twitty, 1st AD and Fort Bliss commanding general, removed the division stole from Meeker and placed it on Helms shoulders.

The 1AD is known as “Old Ironsides,” so its chaplain is the “Iron Shepherd.”

Chaplain Helms looked to Read more

Chaplains as God’s Hands and Feet on the Front Lines

The Christian Examiner writes about US Army Chaplain (Maj) Stanton Trotter, who was deployed three times to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan:

Trotter said often what is required from army chaplains is their physical presence.

“The soldiers want their chaplain to be with them in the field,” Trotter said. “They want them to be jumping from the same airplane, to be out in the field, and to experience the same life they have. When they see that, they can say ‘this guy or gal is one of us and I can relate to them.'”

During deployments, physical proximity often means entering danger zones…

US military chaplains put Read more

Chaplain Provides Church Away from Home in Liberia

Chaplain (Major) Alfred Grondski is currently serving troops in Liberia in support of Operation United Assistance (the anti-Ebola “military operation”). Chaplain Grondski notes that troops are often closer in faith while deployed than at home:

I minister closely with people I work with…That usually doesn’t happen back in the states like it is here, because in garrison a lot of the Soldiers go to their home church; there isn’t a home church here. This gives us an opportunity to come together as a Family and worship.

He also made an interesting obersvation about the host Liberians:

I see smiles on their faces, lots of places of worship – their spiritual morale is very high.

Read more. Read more

Navy Order on Divine Services

The Commanders of the ships of the 13 United Colonies are to take care that divine services be performed twice a day on board and a sermon preached on Sundays, unless bad weather or other extraordinary accidents prevent.

That’s how the Navy chaplaincy began in 1775.

It seems times have changed a bit, haven’t they?
Read more

Chaplains Serve All during Ebola Deployment

US Soldiers deployed in support of Operation United Assistance (deployment to Africa in response to the Ebola outbreak) have many of the same — if not more — logistical challenges as those deployed further downrange. Chaplain (LtCol) David Bowlus described conducting outdoor worship services in Monrovia, Liberia, as the chapel tent ended up being requisitioned to house other Soldiers.

The article on the chaplains in Africa noted they are Read more

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