Navy Chaplain (Lt) Eric Hammen has been FOB-hopping from outpost to outpost in Afghanistan, as many chaplains have — serving US servicemembers even in their very foxholes.
To have the opportunity to go out and minister, that’s really special to me.
A group of Army chaplains sat down with a local reporter and helped explain their role in the US military — a role that goes well beyond leading Sunday services. Chaplain (LtCol) Paul Hurley was joined by five chaplains:
Major Moon Kim, a Presbyterian minister who serves as Deputy Division Chaplain; Maj. Clayton Gregory, a Church of God minister and Family Life Chaplain; Capt. Jared Vineyard, 4th Brigade Combat Team; Capt. Erik Alfsen, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, and Capt. William “Jeff” Sheets, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion…
They talked about their service to the wounded and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq, some they knew personally. In fact, the personal relationship with the troops was a focal point of their ministry: Read more
The Air Force Times notes the US Air Force has yet to replace the introductory ethics course taught to ICBM officers that was pulled late last summer. The Air Force withdrew the course “for review” after the MRFF complained about content mentioning Christian beliefs. The Air Force had previously stated it could reinstate the course, replace it, or simply delete it.
On a related point, there has been no public release to Senator Cornyn’s request for the Air Force to explain its actions, either.
As noted previously, the MRFF’s Chris Rodda took issue with the Senator’s words defending the Constitution.
Chris Carroll at the Stars and Stripes notes the importance of Catholic chaplains to a large majority of the US military population — and yet the marked shortage of priests in the military as a whole.
Searching for bombs day in and day out, [US Army SPC Joe] Murphy needed the reassuring hand of his faith more than ever, but because of a worsening shortage of Catholic chaplains in Afghanistan and throughout the military, it had never been more difficult to practice it.
“The only time in Afghanistan I ever saw a priest was Read more
Anglican Chaplain (LtCol) Harry Ndirangu, Kenyan Ministry of State for Defense, was invited to preach to US forces at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, as part of an ongoing chaplain interaction program.
Ndirangu visited for three weeks as part of a program that invites Kenyan chaplains to share best practices with the religious Read more
It was noted here once before that US military fighter pilots sanitize their uniforms prior to combat missions, so if they are captured they have little on their person to provide information to the enemy. However, intel officers occasionally encouraged pilots to carry family photos, thinking the “personalizing” aspect of the photo might positively influence their captors’ perspectives. Similarly, some encouraged carrying a religious item like a cross that would be found on them if they were captured.
Why carry an obviously Christian item on a combat sortie into a predominantly Islamic country?
Simple: Adversaries, primarily of the Islamic faith, respected Christians as “people of the book.” Many have misunderstood Muslims’ use of the term “infidels,” which refers to those “without faith.” In short, hostile Islamic adversaries viewed a Christian in the US military far more positively than an atheist in uniform.
The US Marines recently capitalized on that knowledge, using the faith of an American soldier as a positive message of religious respect to counter the Taliban propaganda of American “infidels” — militant atheists trying to get rid of religion in Afghanistan: Read more
A US Army platoon leader has a fascinating article in Army Magazine: former US Army Captain Kevin Bell wrote How Our Training Fails Us When it Counts, recounting a story from 2008 in which he led a platoon in Afghanistan. He uses his personal experiences to describe how the US Army woefully fails in its efforts to prepare its soldiers for ethical challenges in combat.
No infantryman who sits through the required PowerPoint classes on the Geneva Conventions and treatment of enemy prisoners of war (EPW) leaves the classroom with a new perspective on the ethics of war…As it stands, though, classroom and field training on detainee operations do almost nothing to help soldiers untangle the twisted moral landscape of anger, intelligence gathering and justice in wartime.
Without directly addressing it, he highlights the weakness of the situation-based ethics currently taught in much of the military academia: Read more
The story of 1LT T.C. Houston has already been noted, but the eventual full article written by the reporter had an interesting anecdote not told the first time:
One soldier, a sniper, wrestled with his mission. Houston said the guardsman was struggling with the paradox of killing and eternity. Houston said he helped the soldier understand how God views this and how he can continue with his mission.
“According to the Bible, restoring peace is a righteous act in accordance with faith,” the chaplain explained.
While only a snippet of what was likely a much larger conversation, it is seems to be far better than the answer to the similar question raised in Faith of the American Soldier, originally discussed here.
There are moral wounds in war, even apart from an individual’s religious beliefs. Fortunately, the military recognizes that potential and supports both chaplains and other means to try to address that sacrifice by its servicemembers.
Via ArmyChaplaincy.com.