ADAZI, Latvia - Chaplain (Capt.) David "Luke" Sprinkle is on a mission to understand what Soldiers are facing and how to help them feel at home, even with a language barrier.
"Ministering to Soldiers starts where they're working," said Sprinkle, a chaplain with the 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, a part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany. "You have to find out where they are and what they're doing, then you can begin to understand what struggles they have."
Sprinkle aims to provide religious support first and foremost to paratroopers in the 173rd Airborne. The 173rd Airborne, based in Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy, is the Army Contingency Response Force in Europe, and is capable of projecting forces to conduct a full range of military operations across the U.S. Army Europe, Central and Africa Commands' areas of responsibility.
Approximately 600 paratroopers from the brigade are training throughout the Baltic region as part of land-forces exercises to demonstrate commitment to NATO and sustain interoperability with allied forces.
In addition to requiring significant travel and planning, Sprinkle's goals of forging friendship and partnership will have him working with the Latvian chaplain.
"To be able to stand up and minister to people of a different language, culture and background helps reach out to other folks. Right here and right now, we're in unity. We're doing this together."
Sprinkle hopes to train with Latvian chaplains to find more ways to bridge cultural gaps for Soldiers.
"Anytime you can help bridge the gap between two cultures, it makes people feel a lot better," Sprinkle said. "There's an understanding and friendship there, and that's one of the most important things you can do over here. If you can build friendships, it's going to make standing together and training a lot easier."
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