24-854, Religious Support during Large-Scale Combat Operations (Aug 24)
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The III Corps Chaplain section, led by Chaplain (COL) Douglas H. Ball, developed best practices that will be useful to other organizations as they prepare for large-scale combat operations (LSCO). The central best practice revolves around a concept called sustained casualty ministry at echelon (SCME), developed during Warfighter Exercise (WFX) 23-4 in response to needs identified for supporting LSCO. This best practice includes supporting concepts with recommendations and implications for doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities, and policy (DOTMLPF-P) and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) that may be useful to the Army.
Unit ministry can be an overlooked aspect of military operations; however, it provides a critical component needed to sustain operations in LSCO’s high-casualty environment. As seen by the authors included in this publication, WFX casualty trends are consistent with the contemporary LSCO experience in Ukraine and with historic norms for the United States during the major conflicts of the 20th century.
Unit ministry and the Chaplain Corps provide religious support to service members of faith and provide faith examples and counsel to all members of the Army. LSCO requirements will strain this capability just like they will strain every other military capability the Army uses to conduct LSCO. Best practices are necessary to ensure that unit ministry teams can conduct their required duties and meet the needs of service members who are dealing with the demands of a LSCO environment. As seen in these articles and essays, unit ministry spans multiple warfighting functions and warfighting enablers including sustainment, protection, mission command, healthcare, morale, leadership, joint and multinational partnerships, and civil considerations. This publication provides best practices and considerations for a variety of unit ministry topics that units can learn from as they prepare for LSCO needs and care of Soldiers.
MSG John Cushman, the senior unit ministry team (UMT) trainer at Mission Command Training Program (MCTP), describes the concept of sustained casualty ministry at echelon and provides an overview of how it works at echelons above brigade. He shares his thoughts on implementation and training of the concept. He provides a visualization of unit ministry support to Army Health Systems that are needed for LSCO from division to theater army. This visualization requires the Chaplain Corps planners to re-evaluate fundamental assumptions about priorities and requirements for persistent casualty requirements associated with LSCO that were not present in counterinsurgency. Finally, he provides an overview of best practices gathered from each primary training audience in WFX 23-4, how to train this concept, and the implications on doctrine.
Chaplain (MAJ) David Clement and MSG Hector Lopez describe the arrangement of UMTs within corps and division operational areas. During WFX 23-4, III Corps developed a concept of support for casualty ministry at echelon and positioned chaplains at all casualty nodes on the battlefield at tactical levels from battalion to corps. The authors note that ministry support requirements for casualties identified at division and corps level for LSCO highlight gaps in doctrine and unit execution. Religious support teams (RSTs) designed for counterinsurgency (COIN) lack the personnel, equipment and mobility to handle the numbers of casualties projected during LSCO. The authors provide guidance to religious support planners and personnel for positioning UMTS and adapting to the LSCO environment.
Chaplain (LTC) Jorge Torres provides guidance to assist commanders and RSTs with theater/joint mortuary affairs and temporary interment operations. Temporary interment plans have not been necessary in recent decades. A virtual environment of a WFX cannot replicate the visceral and emotional impact of Soldier deaths. However, Chaplain Torres provides a necessary analysis of LSCO requirements for chaplain support. Authorities for mortuary affairs reside at ground component command authority but require support at all echelons. Chaplain Torres describes coordination required across the staff to conduct planning to support this activity. He also provides considerations that are necessary for RSTs to consider as they prepare to support temporary interment efforts.
Reverand Dr. J. Maddox Woodbery provides a discussion on multinational interoperability and the multinational religious support interoperability (MRSI) concept for the European theater. In January 2020, at the International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference, participants ratified the Guidelines for Military Chaplains Co-operation in a Multinational Environment1 to emphasize the principles and practice of international chaplaincy. In response to this and other interoperability initiatives, the Office of the Chaplain developed a concept for MRSI to operate in all three dimensions of interoperability and describes how religious support will reach increasing levels of interoperability.
SGM Edrena Roberts provides a discussion of home station casualty notifications, based upon an examination of how casualties in LSCO would have impacted Fort Cavazos, TX, during WFX 23-4. SGM Roberts describes the current method for casualty notification. Then she shows how large numbers of casualties in LSCO will overwhelm existing casualty notification practices. She recommends a method that organizes notifications by tiers and accounts for conditions at home station. This method meets regulatory and doctrinal requirements.
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