Category Archives: Chaplain

Deacon Brings Catholic Services to Troops

In the absence of their local priest, a retired Airman has been bringing Catholic services to the 120th Airlift Wing in Great Falls, Montana. Gen Pete Hronek, Vice Chief of Joint Staff for the Montana Air National Guard, actually sought out Iver Johnson to serve what Chaplain (LtCol) Art McCaffrey, 120th AW chaplain, said was the second largest population on base.

McCaffrey said that he is deeply grateful that Johnson has chosen to come all the way up to Great Falls to provide services to the Airmen of the 120th AW.

“We had a long conversation and his love of God Read more

Air Force Chief of Chaplains Preaches Resilience

The Air Force Chief of Chaplains, Chaplain (MajGen) Dondi Costin, recently visited Osan Air Base, Korea, and spoke on resilience — via the pillar of spiritual fitness:

“Spiritual fitness is you deciding and determining what your purpose and your meaning is in life; what values you have and then living by those values,” said Costin. “All resilience is, is you having the attitudes and behaviors and beliefs and the community around you to make sure you can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.”

Though he has been criticized by some activists, Chaplain Read more

US Army Chaplain Prayed West Point to Victory

pawlikowskiprayerPhoto credit: Benny Johnson

Benny Johnson at the Independent Journal Review apparently attended the near-historic Army-Navy football game last week, and he watched a uniformed officer “take a knee”:

Much has been made of people kneeling during patriotic moments at football games this year. However, the kneeling going on in the final moments of Army’s historic victory over Navy Saturday night in Baltimore was a welcome sight, a least for the Black Knight hopeful.

West Point Chaplain Matthew Pawlikowski could be found on his knees, feet from Read more

Southern Baptist Naval Chaplain Graduates Leadership Course

The Navy posted an article about 21 chaplains graduating from the entry-level Basic Leadership Course at the US military’s combined chaplains school at Fort Jackson, SC. The article was relatively unnotable, with one exception:

Lt. j.g. Mercedes Speller is a Southern Baptist chaplain heading to Chaplains Religious Enrichment Development Operation (CREDO) at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, as a staff chaplain. She Read more

Chaplain Trains for Combat

hornbackUS military chaplains aren’t just sitting in offices or behind lecterns. And when their units train for combat, they go with them, because they, too, need to exercise how they will operate in the combat environment:

Allied Spirit is a series of combat exercises centered on battlefield realism and international cooperation. But the authentic nature of the U.S. Army Europe training isn’t confined to combat arms personnel…

Too often, the role of chaplains Read more

Air Force Cop Now Serves God and Country

thornleyMajor Andrew Thornley spent four years as an Airman in the Security Forces — a beginning to a career in which he said he had difficulty finding a “spiritual mentor.” That challenge was something he would ultimately seek to help others overcome:

After completing his enlistment, Thornley began his theological studies, eventually becoming a pastor in the civilian world. After 10 years as a pastor, he began to feel that there might be more he could do with his newfound knowledge…

“I left the Air Force, but the Air Force never really left me,” Thornley said. “I’ve always had the blue blood running through my veins.”

Chaplain Thornley re-entered the Air Force in October 2001 and spent the next several years trying to help troops and their families cope with the hardships of war.

In 2003 he was featured on Good Morning America, where he Read more

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