Chaplain School–Week 1

As some of you may know, I am in sunny South Carolina attending the Air Force’s Chaplain Corps College.  A few years ago the Department of Defense (DOD) combined the services’ 3 different chaplain schools into one Chaplain College housed on the Army’s Ft. Jackson.  The move was an effort to save money and mirror the inter-service approach to war-fighting already common across most of the military.  I’m sure it saves quite a bit of money, but I’ve yet to see any inter-service cooperation or training.  But, it’s only week 1, so I don’t know what I don’t know at this point.

I’ll blog about the experience as often as I’m able.  I’ll try to give you an idea of (1) what I’m up to and (2) what a DOD chaplain does in today’s military.  I’ll also share my personal views on being a conservative evangelical pastor serving in a pluralistic religious environment.

So, here’s week 1 in a nutshell:

I arrived a bit behind the power curve and have been playing catch-up the past few days (hence the overdue blog entry).  I lost one of my bags on the way down here and had to replace everything inside.  Expensive mistake, but entirely my own fault.  I also showed up with some outdated information from my unit regarding insignia I have to have sown on my uniforms.  I was the only chaplain (out of 14) not already wearing his chaplain’s cross, so it’s been a scramble to get the proper Air Force uniform items on an Army post.

The weather’s been a ridiculous 257 degrees Fahrenheit (in the shade, uphill both ways…).  I’m not a big fan of the heat (sorry, Alicia!), and a broken AC unit in our schoolhouse only makes it that much…more realistic!  But, I’m not about to complain.  We have troops in scorching heat getting shot at everyday.  I am sure I can navigate the stresses of chaplain school.

That’s not so say I’m not thoroughly enjoying the training though.  We’re taught cutting-edge pastoral stuff that is applicable in both civilian and military ministry.  I’m thankful to my church for giving me the time to go and to the governor of the great state of Indiana for paying the way!

This week, we briefly studied leadership and basic chaplain duties.  It was stressed repeatedly that the chaplain is the only individual in the military who can offer 100% confidentiality regardless of the confession or the confessor.  Intimidating but honoring at the same time.

We spent some time getting educated on how to respond to mass casualty situations and were lead through some (very graphic!) pictures/scenarios.  The point was simple: chaplains provide a calming presence in the midst of chaos.  For that reason, he/she can never be the anxious one on the scene.  Again, intimidating but empowering as well.

The biggest block of instruction this week dealt with pastoral counseling.  These classes were a goldmine of information and practicum.  I’m continually amazed at the high level of professionalism and competency held by my peers.  I’ll leave you with a video demonstrating the most effective approach to most client problems.

 

For the Kingdom,
-bill