Starting in the days of George Washington and the Continental Army more than two centuries ago, military chaplains have played a significant, meaningful role in U.S. military operations around the globe. Wherever U.S. forces served, one has always been able to find chaplains alongside.

Over the past 200 years, chaplains’ jobs have evolved considerably. Today, Air Force, Army, and Navy reservists along with National Guardsmen comprise the majority of the chaplains who serve reservists and guardsmen. Chaplains serve as protectors of religious freedoms, ethical advisors to commanders, counselors to soldiers, and humanitarian helpers to war torn citizens. Priests, ministers, imams and rabbis — spiritual leaders from the Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, and Jewish faiths, respectively — serve as one force to all branches of the military.

ATTENTION TO ALL FAITHS
“Reservists work in a diverse environment today, and exist to protect everyone’s right to expression of faith,” said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) William “Bill” Willis, an Air Force reservist assigned to the 917th Wing in Louisiana, who is a United Methodist minister in his civilian life. “We’re not here to promote our own religion. We’re here to protect all uniformed personnel’s right to their own expression of religion — no matter what that religion is.”

In that spirit, Willis said chaplains oftentimes serve as ethical and moral advisors to unit commanders who are coping with service related religious issues among their troops. The final call on the issue at hand is always the commander’s, but the chaplain serves as the voice of the soldier’s religion, helping the commander to understand its tenets.

“When (soldiers) put a uniform on, (they) don’t entirely give up (their) religious duty,” said Willis. That same protection of religious faith also extends to the chaplains themselves.

“Chaplains recognize soldiers’ religious needs, but that doesn’t mean a chaplain would perform in a way outside of his or her own belief system,” said Chaplain (Maj.) Elizabeth Mayforth, an Army Reservist serving in an Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) capacity with the 99th Regional Support Command in Pittsburgh, Pa. “The particular faith the chaplain represents will determine his or her role in administering certain sacramental rites and practices. Some chaplains come from a fundamental, orthodox, or liturgical background and this will be manifested in the way they perform their duties.”

Therefore, when certain needs arise among soldiers that fall outside the scope of the chaplain’s personal faith, that chaplain will find another chaplain from that soldier’s faith to serve in the capacity needed by the soldier. “For instance, as a United Methodist minister, I would not perform last rites; however, I would attempt to find a Catholic chaplain to perform the duty,” explained Willis.

SERVICE AS GENERAL COUNSELORS
Perhaps chaplains’ most recognized role is that of counselor. Combat stress, marital friction, family strife, and general anxieties are a few of life’s difficulties that can guide soldiers to the open mind and ear of a chaplain. Since September 11, 2001, the added issues of life and death have emerged as stressors for many people, as well. As a result, all military chaplains have encountered substantial increases in their counseling workloads as they strive to offer support and guidance to soldiers and their families.

“Since September 11th everyone’s job has been impacted, whether civilian or military. Inasmuch as we like to say, ‘business as usual’ to give the impression that terrorists do not have control over our lives, I believe to a certain degree there has been an increase of instability, change, and heightened emotions,” said Mayforth.

Such counseling services oftentimes are sought after for the added benefit of strict confidentiality. “One of our most significant jobs as chaplains is the confidentiality we can offer to the soldiers,” said Willis. “Under the provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), even in military court, we could not breach confidentiality. Information shared in confidence is privileged.”

On the happier side of their counseling duties, chaplains can offer premarital counseling and perform wedding ceremonies, as well. “Some people turn to the chaplain during hardships, grief and crisis, but we’re also there to celebrate, offer praise, and rejoice when good things happen in people’s lives,” said Mayforth.

HUMANITARIAN LEADERS
An additional dimension to chaplains’ “positive” work has to do with humanitarian missions.

While recently deployed to Afghanistan, Chaplain (Maj.) Andrew C. Meverden with the 5/19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) of the Colorado National Guard, who is a Baptist pastor in his civilian life, was responsible for several significant humanitarian efforts.

“Just today, I led a convoy that delivered to an orphanage in Kabul three tons of food, two tons of medical supplies, and four boxes of donated clothing. Eighteen soldiers accompanied. Their girls’ choir came out to sing as they served us tea in the courtyard, two Afghan boys had a ‘sing off,’ and one of our soldiers did a juggling act for the kids,” stated Meverden via e-mail.

Additionally, while deployed, Meverden taught training classes in Human Rights and the Law of Land Warfare (HR/LOW) to the soldiers of the new Afghan Army, served as a human rights observer during the interrogation of a captured suicide bomber, taught English classes at a local Afghan high school, and facilitated the introduction of Afghan women vendors at the military base’s weekly bazaar.

“Ninety-nine percent of Afghan vendors are male, so it’s a big deal to allow women to do business safely,” said Meverden. But, unfortunately, the work of chaplains isn’t always “happy.” The less joyous side has been a mainstay of chaplains’ existence for as long as the chaplain service has existed, as well.

THE HEARTBREAKS
While deployed, chaplains must accompany unit commanders to deliver the face-to-face news to soldiers that a family member has died. Likewise, chaplains deliver such news in person to the spouses of service members who have died while on-duty.

Additionally, chaplains provide spiritual support to soldiers who handle rescue and recovery operations for fellow soldiers involved in service-related accidents or battles. For instance, Reserve chaplains from Dover, Travis and McChord Air Force Bases supported fellow reservists from the 349th Memorial Affairs Squadron at Travis Air Force Base in California after 21 guardsmen lost their lives in a C-23 Sherpa aircraft crash in Georgia. The chaplains offered counseling and critical incident stress briefings to the port mortuary reservists handling the remains from the C 23 crash.

Similarly, dozens of reserve and National Guard chaplains were activated in the immediate wake of the 9/11 attacks to provide spiritual support to military, civilians, family members of victims, and those who uncovered remains from the rubble of the Pentagon and World Trade Centers. Rabbi (Col.) Jacob Goldstein, State Staff Chaplain of the New York Army National Guard, for example, helped to oversee the building of a sukkah (holiday structure) at Ground Zero in New York for rescue workers and families of Jewish faith, who observed the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, Day of Atonement, and Yom Kippur in the days immediately following the attacks. Additionally, he blew the shofar (a ram’s horn) at Ground Zero on Rosh Hashanah, which traditionally is blown in synagogue to herald the arrival of the New Year.

MINISTRY OF PRESENCE
One might say the significance of chaplains comes down to the simple concept of serving as a practical calm, keeping service members mentally grounded when they might otherwise be highly emotional. This notion is known as the “ministry of presence.” Just by “being there,” chaplains can have a calming effect.

Chaplain Ralph DeVaul (Capt.), an Air Force Reserve chaplain assigned to the 917th Air Wing in Louisiana, who is the customer service educator for a Veteran’s Administration hospital in Texas, “kept it real” in such a way during a recent deployment to Kuwait. While deployed, DeVaul directed Friday night worship services for service members from all branches of the military. He developed a choir consisting of troops from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, visited with troops both on-base and offbase, and spent several hours each day, including numerous hours each day in the dining facility alone, counseling troops.

“I rode around with troops in trucks just talking to them, asking about their families. I wanted to build a therapeutic environment, promote happy marriages, and help maintain a perspective,” DeVaul said.

SPIRITUALLY FIT
“Chaplains have the wonderful job of serving as a staff officer as well as a spiritual guide. We are able to transcend boundaries of rank and position based on the nature of our calling and walk with soldiers wherever they are called to go. Hopefully every soldier who has gone through basic training has met a chaplain in his or her life time,” said Mayforth. “Our men and women in uniform have a need to be ‘spiritually fit’ for duty, as well as physically and mentally prepared to serve. Chaplains do their best to assist with this special area of development in a person’s life.”