A group of US Army Africa chaplains have been engaging with the Liberian Armed Forces to help their chaplaincy:
Chaplain (Maj.) Allen Staley, and Command Chap. (Col.) Gary Brown …worked with more than 20 Liberian Armed Forces chaplains during a Chaplain Professionalization Seminar in Monrovia, Liberia.
The US military is helping Liberia develop its own chaplaincy, and they’re Read more
Update: The military has said enemy action was not involved in the U-28 crash.
A U-28A — an AFSOC version of the Pilatus PC-12 — went down over the weekend during a mission from Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti (in the horn of Africa, for those unfamiliar). All four aircrew were killed. The least amount of deployments among the crew was 3 (in 5 years).
Of the three officers, one was from ROTC, one from OTS, and one was a 2009 USAFA graduate. That represents all 3 possible commissioning sources in the Air Force in one loss. While there are often good-natured rivalries among OTS, ROTC, and USAFA, risk and sacrifice know no bias.
Captain Ryan Hall…was a U-28A pilot on his seventh deployment. Read more
US military chaplains from US Army Africa helped train chaplains of the Burundi Army on combat-related stress.
The first such USARAF-led seminar of its kind conducted in Africa, U.S. Army Africa Command Chaplain Col. Jonathon McGraw said the seminar showed Burundi chaplains and medical personnel how to help their leaders identify signs and symptoms associated with combat stress.
The US Army has struggled through more than 10 years of war to Read more
It has been said here often that the US military can provide an excellent example of religious freedom to other nations who have yet to fully grasp that human liberty. Unfortunately, in efforts to shore up support with locals, it seems the local religion may get emphasized more than religious freedom. For example, messages from Afghanistan often tout the United States’ respect for, support of, and even defense of the religion of Islam — rather than its respect, support, and defense of religious freedom.
US military chaplains may be an exception to those omissions. Within the Read more
As noted previously, US military Chaplains have been working with the militaries of African nations on a variety of issues, including highlighting religious freedom and establishing Chaplaincies within their own militaries. In Uganda once again:
US Navy Chaplain (Capt) Jon Cutler, a rabbi with CJTF-Horn of Africa, recently spent time with the Ugandan military on the topic of the Chaplaincy.
“Taking care of the spiritual, social and psychological aspects of a troop before, during and after they return from combat situations is Read more
US Navy Chaplain (CAPT) Jon Cutler is the director of Religious Affairs for CJTF – Horn of Africa. In late July, he met with religious leaders in Tanzania to communicate the US military’s religious freedom and coordinate for future cooperation.
Cutler highlighted the US military’s religious plurality and freedom to his hosts in East Africa:
“My close friend and Muslim Imam, Shakur Ali, Africa command chaplain [U.S. Air Force Colonel] Jerry Lewis, and I are visiting Dar es Salaam from August 10 to 15 [during Ramadan],” Cutler told the religious leaders. “It’s unheard of for a Jew, Christian and Muslim to be friends Read more