FORT JACKSON, SC -- The Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center will mark its official opening with a dedication ceremony at 10 a.m., May 6. The AFCC is the home to the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School, the Air Force Chaplain Corps College and the Navy Chaplaincy School and Center.
The ceremony will consist of three parts - the dedication of the Air Force school, the dedication of the Navy school and the dedication of the AFCC as a whole.
Mandated by the Base Realignment and Closure initiative in 2005, the Air Force and Navy moved its schools to Fort Jackson at the beginning of 2010 to form a co-located education center for all military chaplains and their enlisted assistants.
The Navy moved its Naval Chaplains School from Naval Station Newport, R.I. and its training for religious program specialists - the Navy equivalent of chaplain assistants - from Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss., to form a new school. The Air Force school moved from Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. The Army's chaplain school has been on Fort Jackson since 1996.
Although each service will continue to teach its chaplains separately, the co-location allows for shared training opportunities in common areas of interest.
The Navy and Air Force schools are housed in a new building next to USACHCS on Lee Road. The building was completed earlier this year and was inaugurated with an interfaith worship service in January.
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