CLEMSON, S.C. – A U.S. Army chaplain renewed his family’s legacy of service by administering the oath of office to his son at the joint ROTC commissioning ceremony on Clemson University, South Carolina.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Benjamin P. Clark, the outgoing command chaplain for the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, administered the oath of office to his son U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Easton Clark during the ROTC ceremony, May 7.
Following his commissioning ceremony, Easton Clark reported to Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, to begin undergraduate pilot training with the hope of someday flying a 5th generation fighter jet like the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightening II.
Chaplain Clark will soon report to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, to serve as the director of the U.S. Army Futures Command Chaplain Capabilities Development Integration Directorate (CDID), after serving as the command chaplain for the 20th CBRNE Command for the last two years.
Soldiers and U.S. Army civilians from the 20th CBRNE Command confront and defeat the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, interagency and multinational operations.
Chaplain Clark’s youngest son, Reagan Clark, who is a junior in the Air Force ROTC program at Clemson University, provided the invocation at the commissioning ceremony.
“My youngest son, Reagan, who is well known in the Air Force ROTC Detachment at Clemson as a person of faith was asked to provide the invocation,” he said. “His cadre are aware of my job in the Army. They think it’s cool that a chaplain’s kid is doing chaplain like things in their unit.”
“As a military family, we have experienced a lot of moving and saying goodbye to family and friends,” said Chaplain Clark. “The highlight of this ceremony was being together as a family.”
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His youngest son, Reagan Clark, is a recipient of the Air Force ROTC “I Can Fly” scholarship that awarded him the funds to acquire up to 20 hours of private pilot instruction that will enhance his competitiveness for earning a pilot slot like his brother Easton.
By following in their father, grandfather and great grandfather’s footsteps, Easton and Reagan are upholding a Clark family tradition of military service that dates back to World War II.
Before joining the Army, Chaplain Clark grew up in Austin, Texas, and he graduated from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. Chaplain Clark earned his master’s degree in divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
He has served in the Army for almost 20 years and has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
“In 2006 at the Chaplain Officer Basic Course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the motto of my class, 06-02 was 'Faith in the Fight,'" he said. “We knew that almost all of us graduating and joining the active component would be going straight to Iraq or Afghanistan.”
Chaplain Clark said he witnessed firsthand the great power of faith when human emotional and physical strength was exhausted during his deployment to Camp Taji, Iraq, from 2006 – 2008.
“I was given the honor of caring for the warrior’s soul. Our Army aviators, flying the AH-64D Apache were racking up more insurgent kills than any other weapons platform. When you must engage very young insurgents, clearly not altogether aware of what they are being forced to do, even the toughest warrior’s spirit will waver,” said Chaplain Clark.
“Most of the warriors who have allowed me to care for their souls were not religious, although some were,” said Chaplain Clark. “I always believed that I, as their chaplain, always had something to offer, regardless of their brand of faith or lack thereof.”
Chaplain Clark originally wanted to serve in the U.S. Air Force before deciding to become an Army Chaplain.
“I had always wanted to serve in the Air Force, ironically as a pilot, but failed to pass the increased scrutiny of the flight physical back in 1993,” said Clark.
Despite their family history of service, Chaplain Clark said he and his wife never tried to influence their sons’ decisions about what to do in the future.
“My wife, Jennifer, and I knew a lot of children followed in the military footsteps of the parents and we were very careful not to place any undue pressure on the boys to join. I wanted them to do what they felt God wanted them to do first and then strive to become the best version of themselves that they could possibly be,” said Chaplain Clark.
“We encouraged them to join or not to join for their own reasons, guided by faith. Additionally, and this has been pointed out by several of my friends, both sons seem to be future Air Force pilots, my childhood dream,” said Chaplain Clark. “It is my claim that I have endeavored to avoid trying to live vicariously through them and ‘steering’ them towards being pilots. One of these days, I hope for one or both of my sons to give me a ride in an Air Force fighter, probably the ultimate experience I can imagine.”
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