Katherine McMath-Dorman

WIESBADEN, Germany -- When asked what’s the most interesting part of her job as the Installation Management Command – Europe Religious Education Program Director, Katherine McMath-Dorman energetically answered, “It’s different every day!”

When asked a moment later about the most challenging part of her job, she smiled and answered, “It’s different every day.”

In her position she often has as much on her proverbial plate as a Sunday service offering dish. But despite expecting the unexpected, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I feel called by God to help people deepen their lives of faith and the Army is an amazing place to get to do it,” she said, noting that “regulatory and policy questions can get tricky and conflict resolution is a persistent theme.”

After nine years serving garrison communities in Bavaria and Wiesbaden as a religious education director, she made the jump to the region headquarters in 2024 to advise and support the nine garrison religious support offices across Europe.

“I wanted to work in this role with the region because my DRE colleagues in Europe inspire me,” she said. “I want to remove obstacles for them, share best practices, and support them as they work tirelessly to care for soldiers and families in their communities.”

She does that in part by supporting programs for all age groups across all religions, advising chaplains and commanders, and upholding the Constitutional right to the free exercise of religion.

IMCOM-E Command Chaplain Col. Andrew Lawrence recognizes McMath-Dorman’s role and influence in serving the wider Army communities overseas.

“DREs are key to the spiritual development of Soldiers and their loved ones and are invaluable to chaplaincy teams,” he said. “They are often the heart of garrison-based religious life, ministering across denominations and generations. In many ways, DREs have helped build the bridge between faith and family readiness in the modern Army.”

For McMath-Dorman, a Pensacola, Fla., native, the most gratifying part of her job is “seeing people connect in their faith. We hosted region-wide teen and family retreats this past year for our Christian and Jewish populations and the Jewish High Holidays retreat was the first time that some of the children present had ever been able to celebrate a religious holiday in community with other Jews.

“When you see how life giving it is for a Jewish military family to finally celebrate an important moment of faith with their community – all of the logistics, purchase orders, setting up a Kosher kitchen, registration, program planning, travel orders, catering – all of that becomes well worth the effort and there is nothing more gratifying than that moment of connection.”

Aside from her religious support duties, McMath-Dorman also has ample practical experience in the “it’s different every day” category at home in raising two boys, ages 7 and 10. Her “hobbies” include helping them with homework, driving them to activities, and buying groceries.