Can someone give some specifics about this training - I know where it is, how long it is, and when I will be going, but other than that - nothing - what should I prepare for? what should I take? what will be expected - physically, mentally, etc.

You have not mentioned what your denomination is, but what you need to be prepared for is to loosen up on the dogma a bit.

You will be carefully coached on ecumenism so that you will be available for not just the Christian faith but others as well.

That includes Judaism. Islam, Buddhist, Hindu, Wiccan, Native Animist Faiths, ALL FAITH structures.

You must be willing to pray to our "Creator" without closing the prayer with "in Jesus' Name"

You must not prosylatise other faiths, or the people who practice them, with YOUR version of what ever it is you believe. But always be cognisant of their sensitivities.

If you are Christian, you must keep your group studies, separate from your sermons, out of respect for the people who will attend your services who are not of your denomination or maybe not even be Christians!

Chaplaincy is a very demanding calling indeed, as you must be many things to many people and in this kind of servant leadership, there is very little "YOU" permitted.

Your ability to counsell will be the most sought after commodity, so this is another reason to be circumspect in how you approach the faith systems of others, under your care.

The term, servant leadership is one you should most familiarise your self with, as this ministry, is the one that is most demanding of this trait.

Seek the counsel of your pastor, print out and bring with you, this little communique' he will understand the terms, if you do not, and can guide you in your decision.

Also the issue of homosexuality is one you must take the following attitude with....."What ever problem God has with them, is between He and they...NOT...between they and I." this is crucial as you WILL run into this, and must be prepared to minister to their humanity the same as you would anybody else, this attitude is the one you must adopt when considering the exclusivity implied in Christianity, Judaism, And Islam. All claiming to be the "only road to God." As do many other faith systems.

O.K.?? Print this out, go to your pastor and talk, also listen!! He or she will have the terms defined YOU must have the answers to these questions....honest answers, before you decide. If you have doubts?? Don't do it!!

I have helped several chaplains, right here on these threads, you can go to the religion in the military forum and click on the profiles of some who are serving now and get their opinion as well as their advice.

Be well, and be blessed in your choices and ministry, no matter what your decision may be.

Rev, Bruce.....Tawodi

Thank you for your reply; the terms, I understand, having been a Baptist Pastor for over twenty years. You have however, been very helpful in sharing some things with me. I am very interested in the day to day work of the chaplain, especially the initial contact with a group of men.
Can you further elaborate on that; assignment of duty stations; will I have some time between Officer training and my first assignment; what do I begin with or does the officer training give me that.

Many of these questions no doubt seem elementary, but I am very green and want to learn as much as I can prior to going in June.

Hello!

It is good that you have experience, now the next thing to do is get hold of your recruiter, or the person, or mechanism, that you are in contact with, vis a vis your officer training.

There should be information specific to the Chaplain Corps in which ever branch you are entering. Each service will have diferent criteria for performance required.

The general pattern is, as I described in the last post, but you will need to pursue the specifics yourself. Air born services are different than Army and of course seagoing services. Each has envelopes of performance specific to them.

The Army for instance, depending on area of operations, sometimes has liason with the indegenous population re; medical personal, services ect. There are many things that are unique to the military and it's been forty one years since I was in and I was enlisted in the Coast Guard. Over the intervening years I have kept up contact with friends, and on these fora, which has become a kind of ministry in camera, as I lurk much more than I post!

I am retired and pretty much slowed down, but still do hospice care and visitation, as well as preaching and some counselling work. It's good that I am retired, or I never would have enough time to do this stuff!!

I know as a pastor, you are fully aware of which I speak.

There should be a school specific to the chaplains service as well as officer training but they may indeed be combined because your specialty is so specific.

You need to ask the people in your entry path, they will direct you I am sure.

Be well friend and blessings to you.

Rev. bruce..............Tawodi

Kevin, Greetings and special blessings in the loving name of Jesus our Lord and Savior.

I was a Chaplain's Assistant in the US Army for 28 years. The Chaplain's School for the Army is at Fort Jackson, SC as far as I know.

If you are going into the Army, you will be assigned as a Battalion Chaplain. As Tawodi stated, you will need to be able to assist different faith groups. You will not be required to do anything that goes against your denomination.

As far as I know you can still pray in the name of Jesus in a General Protestant service. You should also be able to do a Baptist service if you have enough who want to attend.

On stateside post, you will be sharing a Chapel with other Chaplains most of the time. At Fort Hood, TX and Fort Benning, GA we had around 4 Chaplains per Chapel. Each Chaplain was assigned to a Battalion and took turns Preaching on Sunday.

You will have all kinds of counseling cases, weddings at times, funerals, hospital visits when your troops are in the hospital.

You will also be on a duty roster for the Chaplain's Help Line, an assistant will man the phone at night in most cases, they will call you if needed.

If I can answer any other questions, please let me know. I have been retired for 16 years, but the Chaplains roll did not change much during the 28 years I was active duty in the Army.

May God richly bless and keep you and your family.

In His Service,

Grover

Grover,
I appreciate your comments; each time someone shares something with me it becomes another piece of the puzzle in place. I am to attend the CH-BOLC class at Fort Jackson beginning 01 June 09 and have been getting a dribble of information from multiple sources. I suppose for a Type A personality, this all seems slow, even given the knowledge that everything in the Army is "hurry up and wait."

I am continuing to work on fitness; have long been able to pass the PT test, but want to do better, have been reading a great deal, learning the anancronyms for the many things that you must know and continue to wait. The next few weeks will both fly by and creep along, but I am so excited to be able to minister to young men/women that are in need. I am looking for ways to do that; to make the most of the days I have. The challenge is noble, the God that leads is greater.

Well it's been about a month and I checked back in to see how you are doing. Grover has good advice, ALWAYS!!

He comes from a long service and left one thing out, but as a pastor you probably know about it already.

This is one of those ministries that the term I use, "listen and whisper" is very appropriate to. The reason of course being, that sometimes you will be attending someone with little or no religious experence / training, or from a different sect, denomination, or religion altogether!!

Therefor the "human" constant must apply and listening is the single biggest skill you can develope, as it is the only way to know how to proceed effectively.

As you said the time is approaching and it must seem to you, to be reaching the speed of an express train about now!!

Good luck and may God keep you, and your charges, safe and comforted.

Rev. Bruce.........Tawodi