Chaplain (BrigGen) Donald L. Rutherford is set to become the US Army’s next Chief of Chaplains. The position is currently held by Chaplain (MajGen) Douglas Carver.
Rutherford is a Catholic and currently the Deputy Chief of Chaplains; he would be promoted to Major General as well.
Chaplain Rutherford recently spoke at the Redstone Arsenal National Prayer Luncheon on the topic of resiliency and spiritual fitness: Read more
An interesting website over at GeneralWashington.net sponsors a sort of ‘living history’ of George Washington’s life. The “blog” on the site follows the dates of Washington’s actual correspondence on those dates more than 200 years ago.
A couple of weeks ago, it noted his order from 7 February 1776:
The Continental Congress having been pleased to order, and direct, that there shall be one Chaplain to two Regiments, and that the pay of each Chaplain shall be Thirty-three dollars and one third, pr Kalendar Month–The Revd. Abiel Leonard is appointed Chaplain to the Regiment of Artillery, under the command of Col Knox, and to the 20th. Regiment, at present commanded by Lt. Col Durkee.
Via the Army Chaplaincy blog.
A panel discussion in Washington, DC, entitled “Current Topics Facing Today’s Military Chaplains” included Chaplains (LtCol) Carleton Birch, (LtCol) Lisa H. Tice, and (CAPT) John H. Lea of the Christian faith, Chaplain (LtCmdr) Abuhena Saifulislam of the Islamic faith, and Chaplain (Capt) Jerry Seidler of the Jewish faith.
Birch reportedly said that the DADT repeal may be fairly benign for Chaplains, given that they’ve been counseling homosexual servicemembers all along.
Army Chaplain Lt. Col. Carleton Birch said Wednesday that chaplains already have experience in counseling homosexual soldiers and will likely be able to adjust easily to an openly homosexual military.
“I’ve counseled homosexual soldiers when Read more
Chaplain (LtCol) Gary Hensley received the Order of Titus from US Army Chief of Chaplains MajGen Douglas Carver in early January. As noted in the article,
A non-denominational award, the Order of Titus is unique among U.S. Army honors in that it recognizes observer-trainers rather than key leaders and staff. The award highlights “the great importance of realistic, doctrinally-guided combat ministry training in ensuring the delivery of prevailing religious support to the American Soldier.”
While he has previously been deployed to combat zones, Chaplain Hensley is currently serving as not only Chaplain to the Fort Leavenworth community, but also as an “observer-trainer” in the unit’s mission.
Via the Army Chaplaincy blog.
Three monuments stand on Arlington National Cemetery’s Chaplains Hill (text).
The oldest, standing in the center and installed in 1926, memorializes by name the 23 Chaplains who lost their lives in “the World War.”
To its left, the second monument, installed in 1989, memorializes by name the Catholic Chaplains who lost their lives in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
The final monument, raised in 1981, memorializes by name the 134 Protestant Chaplains who lost their lives in World Wars I and II.
The absence of a monument to the 13 Jewish Chaplains Read more
Jeff Struecker started as US Army Ranger Staff Sergeant Struecker and became famous in his portrayal in Blackhawk Down. He later became US Army Chaplain (Capt) Jeff Struecker.
According to local news reports, newly retired Jeff Struecker is now an associate Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia, which is the location of the Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Via the Army Chaplaincy blog.
The Air Force Times profiles Chaplain (Capt) Sharior Rahman, who is one of two Islamic Chaplains in the US Air Force. (The other is Chaplain (Capt) Walid Habash; it is unclear what became of Chaplain (Capt) Abdulah Hamza Al-Mubarak, who was the Air Force’s first Islamic Chaplain and served at the Air Force Academy until a few years ago.)
Rahman serves at Lackland AFB — gateway for all enlisted recruits — and Read more
In a somewhat long but interesting article first published in the Jewish Exponent and republished by the Army, 1LT Avi Behar, a 23-year-old Army Lieutenant, recalls a day in Afghanistan in which he had an epiphany about religion and relationships both in the US military and the Afghan Army.
Earlier in the day, with the help of an Afghan General, his unit helped a local get his truck, overloaded with his produce, unstuck from the side of the road. Later, he came back to base to celebrate Chanukah:
Upon returning that night…our battalion chaplain put together a Chanukah service. We had discussed the idea a few days prior, but I wasn’t expecting what I was about to experience. Read more