What Do Chaplains Do Anyway? Part 4

Chaplains care!

Chaplains care about the troops who they serve. Of course we are here to insure and facilitate the freedom of religious expression that our nation is built upon. But even beyond this, we have the opportunity to live out the calling of our Lord to love one another. The ministry of Jesus could certainly be characterized as a ministry of caring. Chaplains reach out in a variety of ways to show people that they are appreciated and cared for by their fellow Air Force community. Counseling and listening are just a couple of ways. Sometimes the chaplain will carry out hot chocolate in the cold of the night or early morning to those working in the cold. We drop an encouraging word, clasp a shoulder, or shake a hand wherever we get the chance. Yesterday, I had the privlege of doing an invocation/prayer for about 30 newly promoted airmen at our Wing's monthly promotion ceremony. It was inspiring to see the joy and eagerness in the faces of these men and women, some of them very young, as they take on additional responsibilities. Earlier that day, my supervisor put on his Lt. Col. leaves. His service to others has been recognized and he is on to bigger things and a wider avenue of service and responsibility.

Chaplains care: whether we are in the gym working out and stop in coversation, visiting a family of a deployed member, in a chow line visiting troops, by a hospital bed or carrying a litter on or off a plane, whether we stand saluting, or bow our heads in prayer -- we hope to convey to those who see and hear -- they are cared for: by God who created and redeemed them and by their fellow human beings with whom they work and for whom they serve.

An Air Force Year to Remember

An article on military.com states that for the Air Force 2005 was a year to remember. Certainly for myself, this was a year to remember: an "Air Force" year to remember. One year ago I was a parish minister in a very slow country setting of a small church. Today I'm part of a team that serves almost 10,000 folks. I've been through loads of training, done loads of counseling, and had the responsibility to make several large chapel projects happen. My family made a major move from the hills of Tennessee to the metro area of DC. I went from a job that offered little more than a slow pace to an exhilorating and demanding climate. Rewarding -- that is how one can describe life in the Air Force as a chaplain. There is always something worth doing and the joy of knowing that what one does makes a real difference in the lives of people who are making a difference.

I suspect 2006 will be a year to remember as well. In one week, I'll depart for six more weeks of intensive training, including deployment training.

A couple of links for you to peruse to see what kind of stuff the Air Force is up to:

US Air Force Year in Photos 2005

2005, An Air Force Year to Remember

A blessed happy new year to you.

A Quiet Night

Christmas Eve found our family at a Candlelight service at one of our chapels at Andrews. My daughters lit the Christ candle as we focused on the theme that Jesus the light of the world is already here and because of that hope shines bright. Hope for peace because of the one who is the Prince of Peace shines in our world. Hope that my job as officer and chaplain will soon be obsolete. There will be peace on earth and no more need for military or other such folks. There will be peace between God and people and no more need for shepherds of the flock for Christ will be here and all shall know Him.

Our choir did such a wonderful job with "Still, Still, Still" and our organist/pianist had the perfect touch in accompaniment. I especially enjoyed the harpist that the chapel contracted. She played music before the service, a special piece during, and accompanied our hymns. And the chapel was lit with candle light brilliance. It was truly an enjoyable experience leading this service.

Christmas Day, I'll be able to sit with my family in church -- the first time I've done that on a Christmas since my wife and I were first married. I've always been holding the services. Its nice to be able to enjoy the best of both worlds -- parishioner and one of the flock.

I have to put a plug in for our chaplain assistants. The rest of the base is on a four day stand down (mostly, no base ever completely shuts down), but our assistants were out there Christmas Eve and will be Christmas Day getting everything ready for the multitude of services offered in the Protestant and Catholic communities here on base. Many people sacrifice time with family, not just so Christmas can be celebrated, but so that the nation is kept safe. I know of many folks working today -- taking care of wounded, flying and maintaining aircraft, and more.

Stuff headed for desert

Today, with the help of one of our first shirts, I mailed out over 1300 dollars in school supplies to a commander from our base who is forward deployed for a project entitled "Operation Outreach". Thanks to the generous donations of many of the attendees of our Sunday morning Chapel 1 protestant services and to vendors who service our local commisary, we sent 30 boxes of school supplies, hygene kits, sandles, and toys to school children in Iraq. The brings pretty much to a close a project that has been in works for about six weeks.

Now I turn my efforts to focusing on my upcoming temporary duty for training down in Montgomery. Six more weeks of training, this time focusing on being a chaplain who is prepared for deployment into an area of operations.

So this touches on a couple of other areas that chaplains work in -- special ongoing projects and training -- lots and lots of training. Just like everyone else, we stay trained so we stay ready to go and do the job.

What Do Chaplains Do Anyway? Part 3

Visitation. Lots of visitation. Every Air Force base is composed of numerous groups of people organized around a particular tasking which are called Squadrons. Each chaplain is assigned to a number of squadrons. I currently have a very large squadron, two smaller ones, and am the point chaplain for a large tenant unit that is located here. As one Commander shared with me, I'm only good to him if his troops know who the chaplain is. So chaplains spend a lot of time out where the troops are getting to know them and what they do.

There is always a chaplain on call 24/7. The duty chaplain will visit the work areas that are spinned up after normal duty hours like the hospital, the Command Post, various security posts and service areas.

The Air Force has a neat term for this: "Ministry of Presence". We are not out there necessarily pushing religion down anyone's throat, but we are out there to let the troops know that someone cares about them and is available to them if they need someone just to listen. Its wonderful to see how much an encouraging word can mean to our folks.

Saturday I spent the afternoon visiting with families of children who have cancer. The base sponsors a special Christmas gathering for them every year complete with activities, plays, music, and of course Santa. There were loads of volunteers there giving their time to make it a special time for the kids and families from firefighters, security forces folks, pilots with some aircraft available to tour and so forth. It was a wonderful opportunity to not only support these families but to show appreciation for the airmen who so willingly gave of their time and efforts for them.

What Do Chaplains Do Anyway? Part 2

Chaplains Counsel People

Chaplains take care of people so they can take care of business. Often times that happens by listening and providing counsel to people. I cannot talk about any specific cases, as the Air Force grants total confidentiality to the person who counsels with a chaplain. You might say they own the entire conversation and it is theirs to do with as they will.

Counseling can take place in a variety of settings. Sometimes people walk into the chapel. Some make an appointment to come by the office. Sometimes conversations strike up in a work center, on a aircraft in flight, on a stretcher in the hospital and so forth. Conversations leading to counseling can take place just about anywhere. I've counseled people in my office, on the flight deck of a C-17, in the payload bay of a C-130, in the middle of a line to get food, and in jail.

Chaplains are about maintaining a "ministry of presence" in the Air Force. That means being out there with the troops. That means that where the troops are -- the chaplains are. I myself haven't been to the desert -- yet...but I will be.

Contact can occur in a variety of ways. Sometimes people will call up the chapel and just want to speak to who is available. Some call and make an appointment with who is available, some with the chaplain they know. Some are referred by unit commanders or brought by people who care. Others come on their own. And often conversations flow because a chaplain just stopped by to say hello.

And what can come up? I've had to comfort a soldier coming home from Iraq to visit his folks with the news that his father would likely pass that evening. I've prayed and listened to many of our wounded. I've talked to people wrestling with marriage and family issues. I've talked to people thinking about killing themselves. I've escorted a young man to the emergency room who thought he was being attacked by demons. I've encouraged young people to set and work for goals, to get an education, to strive for excellence and so forth. I've visited with people getting ready to go into harms way for extended periods of time away from their families and then talked with their families while they loved ones were away. And while I pray I never have the opportunity, our chaplains stand ready to comfort should any of our comrads in arms pay the ultimate price for the maintaining of our liberties.

Chaplains are there for the troops -- to listen, to counsel, to support and comfort. Where they are, we are.

What Do Chaplains Do Anyway? Part 1

Why have chaplains in the United States Military? From my perspective it's about what we do which I see as having two major interrelated dimensions. I am here to help meet the spiritual needs of our people. I am also here to provide support to help keep our troops fit to fight. Taking care of people so they can take care of business -- that's what we do.

So what kinds of things do chaplains do?

Chaplains Lead Worship

I list this activity first, not necessarily because it is the most important, but because it is the most typical and I suspect expected function.

Chaplains lead worship services for people of their faith group. For example, Catholic priests will provide worship and sacraments for Catholics, Protestant chaplains will provide services for protestant Christians, chaplains of other faiths will provide services for their traditions and so forth.

Don't think though that a worship service is an exclusive product of just the single chaplain. For one our chaplains are constantly busy today. We are often away for training or deployment. While a service may have a predominant leader, there are always backups ready to step up to the plate when the regular chaplain is called away to serve elsewhere. I typically lead the formal/liturgical service, but have filled in for a variety of other services as well.

In fact the team is wider than just the chaplains. There are the chaplain assistants, our enlisted folks, who take care of the facilities and have the various worship sites set up and ready to go each Sunday morning.

Then there are all the many volunteers who provide essential support to keep the services flowing. There are those who sing in choirs, provide musical accompaniment, run slide show presentations, monitor the sound systems, take care of flowers, keep up with annoucements and member news, and so forth.

And of course there are the many faithful attendees of the services. Active duty folks are often coming and going as changes in posts necessitate their moving. But each service often has a core of retired folks who play essential support roles in keeping the services going.

Worship communities are also busy reaching out to their wider community. For example, one major project operated by the chapel community at Andrews is the support of S.O.M.E (So That Others May Eat). This is a major project to feed the homeless in the Washington D.C. area. And this is just one of the major projects they support along with designated offerings for various support groups that are out there taking care of folks.

Taking care of folks -- that's what it is all about.

And our worship communities are reaching out to take care of our active duty folks as well with adopt-a-squadron initiatives. Activities and outreach events are targeted to active duty folks and especially the families of our forward deployed troops.

Chaplains are on the front lines of encouraging our worship communities to reach out with their gifts, talents, and resources to help take care of others -- in our Air Force community and our wider community.

One question comes up often in the context of worship: what kind of stuff can a chaplain say? I'll just state that during worship, people voluntarily come to the service of their preference according to their traditions. And so in the spirit of integrity, which is so important in our Air Force, I proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to my best understanding. Chaplains are here to accommodate the spiritual needs of people, and so I preach God's Word providing for those who have come to hear that Word of God.

Help on the way

Thursday I rose early while darkness still cloaked the base and donned my uniform to go out and provide encouragement to some very young men and women who are at this very moment reaching out to people devestated by hurricane Katrina. Work continues there, and Andrews people are right in the middle of it. I visited and prayed with some folks from one of my squadrons who volunteered to go forth into the midst of it all. Some are food service folks; there was even a mortuary support person. Brave, determined to make a difference, and young -- we sent them forth to represent our community and to help those who are beyond being able to just help themselves. Keesler AFB is testimony to what trained military professionals are able to do. They are still digging themselves out -- but already they are providing significant support to the people around them. And they are getting help from all over the Air Force. Some of our medical folks are there. Other bases have sent chaplain teams there to help people deal with the emotional trauma. READ more about it

This Sunday, our the worshipping community on base will take a collection that will specially earmarked for our brothers and sisters in arms at Keesler whose homes and possessions have been wiped out.

I am preparing for two significant events coming up for me personally. First my endorser, the representative of my church body who says yes - send Reedy, will visit with my chain of command. And secondly, I have been tasked with attending special training related to add to my counseling skills to hone them for a military environment later in September.

And Sunday, we remember 9-11. The horror, the heros, the cost, the struggle, and the call to honor those who serve and those who gave all. Pray for our airmen, our soldiers, our sailors, our marines, all who wear the uniform and go in harms way. Pray for safety and pray for peace.

Welcoming victims from Gulfport

Today a chaplain's assistant and I traveled to northern DC to the large veteran retirement facility operated just to the north of Capital Hill. There we assisted in offloading the 250 residents whose home was destroyed in Gulfport to their new home here in the DC area. I'll just say these were people whose determination to not let this tragedy get the best of them was readily apparent. Military personnel from many of the area bases were on hand to assist with the transition to new living quarters. It was a great privilege to be of assistance to these men and women who have served our nation in the past at some of its most profound moments such as WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

Here is a quote from one of the people evacuted to us:

"There were strangers lined up, and they all clapped and greeted us and said, 'Welcome home!' And that's just what it was," she said. "So this is like coming home to friends and family, although we didn't even know them. They were wonderful, and they even prayed for us. So I'm very touched. It's just a heartfelt thing to think that you're part of something so great as all these service people together care about each other." (read full story)

On a side note, I have one member who attends the service I conduct who as on the USS Pennsylvania during the attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7.

Responding to Katrina

This is a picture of the commissary (grocery) at Keesler AFB in Biloxi. Hurricane Katrina has had a devestating impact. Air Mobility Command, to which I belong as part of the staff for the 89th Air Wing, has been put on alert to provide assistance. (read here)

Andrews personnel and facilities are being utilized right now for the relief efforts. 400 members of an Air Force retirement home will be housed temporarily here. (read more) In addition, several of our aircraft and crews are being utilized to assist with transport.

Today, I recieved a briefing to prepare me to serve aboard various medivac flights. Andrews is the reception point for every single serviceman or woman wounded in Iraq as they fly in from Europe. From Andrews they transition to the medical treatment facility where they will recieve their more extensive care. Not only are our chaplains assisting on board the flights, but providing pastoral care during their hospital stay here.

For those of my readers who are brothers and sisters in the LCMS, one of the chaplains at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, which was very hard hit by Katrina, is an LCMS chaplain. I have yet to hear how he is, though reports from Keesler say that while they have major damage, they survived without casualties. Interesting story here which I quote in part.

"For the first time since Hurricane Katrina forced them into shelters, 6,000 people at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., ventured outside for a breath of fresh air. That was late in the day on Aug. 30, just after eating their first hot meal since the devastating hurricane nearly blew the base and that section of the Gulf Coast off the map."

Month of August

I have to say that this month has flown past. On the 29th of July I departed Maxwell AFB to arrange for movement of my household goods to Andrews AFB near Washington DC. The past weeks have been very busy unpacking, going through in processing, and getting established with the chapel. Our chapel team is in great transition at the moment with the arrival of a new wing chaplain and with the absence of several of our chaplains TDY to various places. In addition we are loosing several seasoned enlisted folks with a few more losses to come soon. I have been impressed by the professionalism of the staff and look forward to working with them.

This week was my first week of being more or less on the job. I had several walk in counseling sessions that reminded me just how important the chaplain is not only for the lives of people but also for helping to maintain the operational readiness of the various units. I'm looking forward to getting settled into a work routine once all the appointments associated with in processing are completed.

My family is acclimating well to the new area and new life.

Training Complete

Shew... the past 23 days were more of a handful than I anticipated. I was unable to make timely updates to this blog due to my very limited access to the internet and the policy that I was not to use government computers for personal useage. The training was of exceptional quality and very demanding both physically and intellectually. I was teamed up with 14 others, a chaplain, a psychiatrist, several medical students, a couple of doctors and dentists and even a biohealth engineer. Most of them were serious about being there. One, I'm not still not sure about why she wanted to be there. But we made a great team.

I was appointed the student Wing Chaplain which provided me with an opportunity to exercise some leadership during key events such as our deployment exercise. We spent 3 days in a simulated tent city out in the heat. The high point of the exercise was a 2.5 hour simulation of a mass casualty event. I coordinated the creation and operation of our chapel in the field. The most interesting point of the deployment exercise came when a terrorist tried to blow up the chapel, causing us all to dive out the back door of the tent we were using and scrambling for cover. As Wing Chaplain for the student wing I was honored to give the invocation for our graduation yesterday.

I was also surprised to find that I had been awarded the "Distinguished Graduate" award. Staying up late to study and getting 3 to 4 hours of sleep along with all the pre-training physical conditioning added up, as the award was based on a combined score related to academics and physical conditioning.

The first weekend we were there we got to experience first hand depending on MRE's for our meals. The hurricane came through causing the base to button up tight. The new MRE's (Meal ready to eat) are actually much better than the old ones.

One key event was totally unplanned. I had strained my back and been told to avoid running for a few days, so one morning I was returning to the dorm from the conditioning center rather than going for the group run. I noticed a flight mate collapsed on the ground outside the dormitory with practially no clothing on. He had over heated and returned to the dorm, realized he was in trouble, and struggled outside. With the help of several flight leaders from a different program and several students we were able to get him cooled down and call for help. Real world -- when training gets applied to something real rather than simulation.

My flight commander, an officer tasked with providing us with our primary training, was of top quality. In truth, I was very impressed with the quality of the staff, the integration of the curriculum, and the overall experience. The only real criticism is that they compressed the program to 3 weeks instead of 4 to accomodate some medical students, which I feel limits the program efficiency too much and hinders it from accomplishing what it needs to accomplish. 4 weeks is a minimal amount of time for the training that needs to be given.

I'll close by stating I'm very tired but very satisfied and eager to get to Andrews and get to work. While one of the greatest challenges I've had in life, I am glad for the experience.

TD 2-3

TD-2 & 3

Friday July 8, 2005

Training is progressing at amazingly fast pace. Was great confusion on meals yesterday. Most of my flight did not get lunch and with errands and work to accomplish, we skipped dinner. But snacks are fine. We have our first physical fitness diagnostic tomorrow at 0500. Sunday we are buttoning down as hurricane Dennis comes through. This may very well impact our training schedule and cause us to loose free time over the next weekends. The pace is amazingly quick and the curriculum in my opinion is of a superior nature and very pertinent to the task at hand in forming Air Force officers.

I am very pleased with our flight, as it appears to me that we are getting our act together in good time. I remain most impressed with our flight commander in his professional and supportive decorum which he exhibits toward us.

The program is very heavy on academics and application of theory as well as development of basic military skills and bearing. There are lots and lots of young men and women who have no prior experience at all. I am amazed at how well they are developing already to the high standard of expectation leveled upon us.

There is one other chaplain in my flight, a reserve officer who has been in for 1 year, so he has some prior experience with the military as well.

I continue to be pleased by the fact that I am able to bring to bear my previous experience in both ministering to people and in the military to help my flight continue to make the transition.

I have hardly had time to speak to my wife for more than a minute or two on the phone. Hopefully, as the entire class becomes more organized, we will be able to have more time for these types of things with proper time management.

I find that I am quite rusty on some things like marching, but other things, like military bearing, return as second nature. I am beginning to enjoy the experience, and not just be stressed out by the expectations. I wish that factors beyond our control were not causing difficulties with our schedule, but God determines the weather. All in all, I have confidence the staff here will get this class to graduation giving us the tools and resources necessary to accomplish our mission.

God's richest blessings to all.

Training Day 1

Training Day 1; July 6, 2005

Training began bright and early this morning at 0400. There are over six hundred students here for the four week course, most of whom are in the medical profession. I have only met 1 other chaplain. I have already had the opportunity to speak with and provide encouragement to some of the younger students who are very new to the military environment and find this program overwhelming already. The program is stressful these first few days, and very busy during the entire program. The focus at this point is on equipping everyone with the skills, basic knowledge, and tools such as curriculum materials and uniforms so that they may accomplish the purporse of their training. Also we are doing in processing such as filling out necessary paperwork and moving through medical evaluations. We will soon be moving from this first phase of inprocessing to a stress on academics, some of which has already been introduced.

I am assigned to Falcon Squadron Q flight. The class is called a "student wing" and is seperated into three squadrons composed of 6-7 flights. Each flight has around 16 people. I have had the opportunity to speak one on one with our flight company commander, the officer assigned to overseer the training of our flight, and am very impressed with his professionalism and concern for his personnel.

Today weather complicated our training to some degree as a tropical storm is coming through and we had tornados in the area. I spent a great deal of time trying to secure my remaining uniform items, which was a slow process due to the number of students processing. I missed the evening meal taking care of this, but fortunately had some protein bars in my vehicle, so that worked out ok. Soon we shall have two important events, in a whole mix of events. One is called "Crossing the Blueline, a sort of initiation ceremony. The second is our first PFD or physical fitness diagnostic. This is what I have been training for for the past six months with my emphasis on working out.

We have been informed that due to the abbreviated nature of our program, we will not have weekend liberty as normal. So for instance, this Saturday is a full training day and Sunday is a 1/2 training day. We are up around 0430 and awake and working until midnight.

Three weeks remain to accomplish many things.

Preparing for Active Duty

In a little over 72 hours I shall be reporting for active duty with the Air Force. I hope to be able to have enough access to the internet to post updates on the experience during the next four weeks of training. The next four weeks will be quite busy while I attend Commissioned Officers' Training at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. The typical schedule begins at 5:30am with physical training and concludes sometime around 9pm that evening. In addition there will be a weekend deployment field exercise which should be quite a bit of fun actually. I must admit I look forward to wearing BDU's for training as opposed to navy dungarees. I never cared much for this uniform while I was in the navy. My wife has been good enough to sew the name tapes and patches onto my BDU's so they are ready to go.

Last Sunday, Chaplain Schreiber (Navy Captain), head of the LCMS' Board for Armed Forces Ministry, commissioned me as a representative of that board as a chaplain to the armed forces. It is truly an honor to be entrusted with this responsibility not only by the Air Force but by our Synod. He shared some poignant words with the congregation, particularly that the board looks for men who can represent Christ and cooperate to accomplish the mission in a pluralistic environment without compromise of the Gospel. Military chaplaincy is a dual service. On one hand we represent Christ and make the public proclamation of the Gospel and on the other we serve the needs of the Air Force by helping personnel function at the highest possible level, which is also of benefit to personnel in their own lives for their well-being. Chaplain Schreiber has two key piece of advice to share with the new chaplain: he would not be politely ignored and he would strive to be relevant.

Having been through boot camp once before, there are aspects of the upcoming training that I do not relish reliving. (Lack of sleep for one.) However, I look forward to being back into uniform and the camaraderie of brothers and sisters. I will miss this area of Tennessee and my many friends both in my former parish and beyond it. But I look forward to the exciting opportunities to make a difference in the lives of our service men and women at this most important juncture in history. I truly believe these are paramount times for our nation and for humanity as a whole as well as for the church. I believe the chaplain is in a unique role to be leaven in the military to touch the lives of people and so touch the direction of our times. I also believe the job is worth doing to assist our service men and women in these most difficult and trying of times. I will be most happy to have my family settled in DC at Andrews and to be getting to work. Right now, though I am focusing on getting through these next weeks. I have been preparing for training. The last month or so I have been exercising 3-4 hours per day. I believe I am in physical condition for these next weeks thanks to lots of biking, weight training, and some intense aerobics classes at our local YMCA.

I have been most encouraged and touched by the support given by friends from our former parish who have promised to keep watch over my wife and family in my absence. I won't name them, as they know who they are. I would only share that for those who have given so much of themselves to us in these past few months, you have my and my wife's greatest appreciation and thankfulness. In the midst of trying times, friends have been a great blessing to us.