FORT SILL, Okla. (Aug. 4, 2016) -- The Fort Sill Religious Support Office (RSO) and installation Unit Ministry Teams recognized the 241st anniversary of the Army Chaplain Corps July 29.
Dozens of chaplains, chaplains assistants, support staff and family members joined together for the commemoration at Twin Oaks Bowling Center. Bowling followed the noon event.
"Today is a great celebration," said Chap. (Maj.) Robert Brott, 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade, who performed the prayer. "Two-hundred and forty-one years to be able to minister to the greatest military in the world, serving the greatest nation to represent and reinforce the Constitution in religious freedom -- it's a marvelous thing."
Chap. (Maj.) Scott Nichols, RSO resource manager, opened the ceremony with the corps' history.
"I remind us that the Second Continental Congress in 1775, gave rise to the Chaplaincy and that predated the Declaration of Independence," Nichols said. "There have been more than 25,000 chaplains, who have served in 36 wars, 242 major combat engagements and we have six who were awarded the Medal of Honor." Thousands of Army chaplains and chaplain assistants are buried at Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery and around the world. Remember them.
Today, the Army has over 900 chaplains and chaplains assistants deployed worldwide bringing God to Soldiers and Soldiers to God, the major said.
ROAD TO MILITARY MINISTRY
Brott has been an Army chaplain for more than 18 years. Before he was in the military, Brott, who is from Dallas, worked as an evangelist and performed pastoral assistance full-time.
"I've traveled all over the United States and even into Canada, preaching and assisting churches," he said.
At age 36, he was at a crossroads in his life where he had the opportunity to pastor a church or teach at a Bible college. One of the missions told him to consider the highly-credentialed military chaplaincy, too, since he met its qualifications.
"I sought the Lord and the Chaplain Corps came out on top," Brott said.
It takes about 10 years of study and work experience just to apply for the military chaplaincy, Brott explained. The process requires a bachelor's degree, which takes about four years; a seminary degree, which takes three to four years; and a minimum of two to three years of pastoral experience.
"And that doesn't mean internet degrees," he said. "It's brick-and-mortar, pounding it out doing the hard work for seven, eight, nine years of education."
He had completed his undergraduate degree at North Texas State University in Denton, and graduated from Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth.
"I received all my education while never seriously considering the military ministry," he said.
When he applied to the military, Brott had completed nine and a half years of college and seminary studies, and attained eight years of full-time work experience, he said.
Working with a DoD endorsing agent, Brott looked at what services were looking for clergy and in what denominations. Brott said he selected the Army out of respect for the endorsing agent.
Coming into the Army in 1998, Brott said he has seen a lot of changes in its chaplaincy over the years.
"The chaplaincy has become much more operationally oriented," he said. "Of course, 9/11 hadn't happened. We trained and we were ready, but we hadn't engaged in combat."
"I was in Germany when 9/11 happened and everything turned on its head," Brott said. "We had been training, and so were fully prepared to go."
Brott said there is much difference between being assigned to a Forces Command, which he is currently in; a Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) or in a garrison environment.
"They are all important, and they are all very demanding," he said.
"Forces Command is the tip of the spear, so you're ready to deploy at the drop of a hat," he said. "And, the Chaplain Corps is very good at having their chaplains and chaplain assistants ready to go."
At TRADOC and Installation Management Command, chaplains are ensuring the chaplain infrastructure is strong, are training oriented, while still providing Soldiers and the community with a spiritual foundation and support.
Before he was the 31st ADA Brigade, Brott taught ethics at the Captains Career Course and Basic Officer Leader Course at the 30th ADA Brigade here.
Military chaplaincy can be very intense compared to civilian chaplaincy, he said.
"It can get very ugly when you're around grief, dying, difficult circumstances everyday," he said. It's also rapid-fire. The tempo, and you're dealing with families moving every two or three years, who are experiencing maximum stress levels.
"A good chaplain has to be able to intervene and to help to keep the Soldier and the family pointed in the right direction, counting their blessings and thanking God for the privilege of serving in the military," Brott said.
CHAPLAIN ASSISTANTS
Chaplains assistants provide support to chaplains during missions and everyday activities, according to www.goarmy.com.
This takes the form of many roles, said Spc. Kyle Black, Fort Sill RSO chaplains assistant. They perform counseling, keep the chapels clean and running and set them up for different services, maintain and respect funds including tithes and offerings, and order they ministry supplies, such as Bibles, he said. Of course, they must stay qualified on all Soldier skills, such as small arms proficiency, physical fitness and warrior tasks. In theater, they provide personal security to chaplains.
"As a chaplains assistant, my job is to support anyone of any faith," Black said. "I may be supporting prisoners at (Fort) Leavenworth, (Kan.), or detainees in Afghanistan or Iraq. I am supporting that individual's faith."
He noted that the Army recognizes over 2,000 faiths.
Black was attracted to the 56M military occupational specialty because: "I saw it as a way to feed my faith and to serve my country. I really enjoy what I do and the way I get to serve God," he said. He added that chaplain assistants do not have to be religious to work in the MOS.
Black said many junior enlisted Soldiers feel more comfortable approaching the enlisted chaplain assistants rather than seeking a chaplain.
"I do enjoy the opportunities to talk with Soldiers about their faith, but that is more of a personal endeavor not a professional one," he said. "If I see a Soldier is having a spiritual crisis I will take them to a chaplain."
The battalion is the smallest sized unit that will have a chaplains assistant and it will only have one, said Black, who has been in the Army for two years.
"That's why it is so important that you are a professional because if you are not, you're casting this huge shadow over your entire field."
What does the Army Chaplain Corps' birthday mean to Black?
"The Chaplains Corps -- the faith element that we bring to the Army is one of the oldest aspects of the service," Black said. "Our military's opportunity to pursue faith is older than our country."
Nichols urged the chaplains and their assistants to remember who they are.
"Do what God has called you to do, that's what stands you apart from everyone else, that is why you are here."
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