Army Chaplain: Mule or Prius?

In the course of CH-BOLC, we have written lots of papers on the topics of our instruction. This is one paper I recently submitted, on the subject, "The Professional Ethic Of an Army Chaplain." Our directions were to answer certain questions, and reference certain external readings. So it wasn't exactly written with a blog in mind. But I thought it might be helpful if someone wanted to know what was the big deal about being an Army chaplain. Enjoy the read. Or at least print it out and use as a cure for insomnia!

The Professional Ethic Of an Army Chaplain
By CH (CPT) Jeff Peppers

An Army chaplain is a unique specimen; to what shall we liken him? A chaplain is at once an officer and a clergyman/woman. It is tempting to describe the relationship between the two qualities in one person as something akin to a hybrid, like say a mule. Of course, a mule is a cross between a female horse and a male donkey, displaying the strength of its mom, and its dad’s surefootedness. The problem with this model is that a mule is neither fully horse, nor fully human. It has characteristics of each, but both traits have been compromised.

Another possible model for Army chaplain is the hybrid gas-electric vehicle. A Prius changes from combustion-based to power cell-based engine, effortlessly and without cue, based on the conditions. But in that model, the vehicle essentially ceases to be one type of engine, to become the other type.

While they come close functionally, both mule and Prius fail to illustrate the unique relationship between officer and clergyman that constitutes an Army chaplain. The Army chaplain embodies all the characteristics of a professional staff officer and a clergy person. These qualities exist without competition, and without compromise. The Army chaplain does not “change hats” continually to vacillate between officer and clergy, but remains a consistent and true embodiment of officer and clergy.

The only model (of which I am aware) that can adequate illustrate this dualism is found in the Christian understanding of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. For the first couple of centuries of the Church, the question of the exact nature of Christ’s divinity and humanity mattered comparatively little to Christian followers and leaders. But when Constantine formally ended the persecution and Christianity became a legitimate religion, leaders began to grapple with the question: how could Jesus Christ be God (or god) and human at once?

The Councils of Nicea eventually settled on what is generally considered to be the historic, orthodox interpretation of the incarnation: that in Jesus, Christ was both fully divine, as well as fully human. This is the nature of the professional ethic of the Army chaplain: fully an officer in the Army, and also fully a clergy member in the service of God. Neither aspect of person is diminished by the reality of the other. The Army chaplain may emphasize one aspect of his ministry over the other from time to time, but does not disengage from being an officer so that he may be more pastoral, and vice versa.

The dual role of the Army chaplain, while hard to enunciate, is easier seen by example. From the earliest days of the Army, chaplains have understood their role. John Gano, a Baptist minister in colonial America, served as chaplain in the Revolutionary War. He was known for his bravery under fire, appearing out near the fighting even through a hail of musket balls. But he was foremost a pastor, preaching to and nurturing the Christian faith among the Soldiers of the upstart American army.

One of the greatest examples of this Soldier-pastor role as chaplain was Father Francis P. Duffy, immortalized as the chaplain of New York’s Fighting 69th and later senior chaplain of the 42nd Division. Father Duffy was a Soldier, through and through, but a pastor as well. He lived by the advice of Chaplain Leslie Groves: “It is the one who lives with the men, enduring the hardships and encouraging the same dangers, who is ruled not by selfishness, but by love for all men … who can speak when the time comes the words that will be listened to.”

The Soldier nature of the pastor simply means that the Army chaplain does his or her duty to promote the moral and spiritual well-being of the unit and its Soldiers, in support of the mission. This does not render the chaplain combatant. Doing one’s duty as a chaplain is akin to doing one’s duty as a commander; positioning oneself at the critical place of the battlefield, the chaplain gives hope and encouragement to Soldiers when they most need it. Chaplains Poling, Fox, Goode and Washington [see blog "Pray That I Might Be Adequate."] placed themselves at the critical place on the battlefield, praying for the men and guiding them to safety as the Dorchester sank under the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Their duty as Soldiers and as pastors melded on the railing of the ship as they escorted the Soldiers under their charge to the last full measure of devotion.

Father Duffy, John Gano, and the chaplains of the Dorchester never gave up being pastors in order to be Soldiers. I consider them to be akin to the Great Soldier, who, “although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Another dichotomy inherent to the nature of the Army chaplain resides within the pastoral component of military chaplaincy. An Army chaplain is a pastor, but a pastor is not necessarily an Army chaplain. In the earliest days of Army chaplaincy, there was no particular training of the chaplain.

The rigors of military life require the presence of chaplains within the ranks. In 1791, Congress authorized the commissioning of a chaplain for the Army, which was at that time the size of two regiments. No rank attended the commission, and the stipend was slightly more than that of a captain.

The nature of ministry in combat, however, requires additional qualities. The Army chaplain today carries the rank of an officer; this is consistent with the chaplain’s duty as adviser to the unit commander on matters of spirituality and morality. In order to advise the commander, and for the sake of credibility among the troops, the Army chaplain must be immersed enough in the Army culture to speak with authority—not only as a messenger of God, but as the combat multiplier he or she is.

Chaplain Milton Haney, of the 55th Illinois Infantry Regiment, received no special training in being a Chaplain in the Union Army. Yet he went about his task as one who knew what had to be done. He freely used his influence with senior commanders to ensure that the wounded were properly cared for, even prevailing upon General Sherman himself for the authority to order doctors to their task on a hospital steamboat. These are qualities of a pastor of action, regardless of military or civil environment.

Being an Army chaplain requires a mindset, as well as technical skills and training, which simply do not apply to clergy in a civilian setting. Chaplains in the Vietnam conflict monitored their command nets, hopped helicopter flights, moved out with their units and dug foxholes with them. Their altar was often the hood of a jeep and they soldiered alongside the Soldiers. Living the life of the Soldier earned the chaplains the respect and love from the men, so needed to bring to them the Word during a moment when they desperately needed it. One Soldier, when asked about his chaplain, replied, “I can’t talk about him. You just wouldn’t understand. You haven’t been with us.”

Chaplains in Desert Storm were assigned to all sorts of units, combat arms, combat support and combat service support. Chaplain Timothy Kikkert of the 4-66th Armored Battalion, while not maneuvering tanks to engage the enemy, understood the general plan and how his unit played in the overall mission of defending Kuwait. The same can be said (or at least, should be said) for chaplains operating in all theatres of war, particularly since World War II. There are military-specific tasks, such as conducting memorial services, ministering in a triage of casualties, and preparing the hearts and minds of Soldiers for combat, for which a civilian pastor need not be concerned.

Fully Soldier and fully clergy, military not civilian, born in seminary and baptized in the fire of combat, the Army chaplain embodies a professional ethic unlike any other. I am proud and humbled to be numbered among them.

Pray That God Will Make Me Adequate

A young chaplain named Clark Poling wrote his to his father, “I know I shall have your prayers, but please don’t pray simply that God will keep me safe. War is dangerous business. Pray that God will make me adequate!”
As he wrote those words, the young RCA (Reformed Church in America) pastor and Army chaplain was being deployed with his unit. Aboard the ship, Clark became friends with fellow first lieutenant chaplains George Fox, a Methodist; Rabbi Alexander Goode; and Roman Catholic Father John Washington. The four found themselves in a fruitful ministry aboard the transport ship Dorchester, serving the spiritual needs of American soldiers headed to the uncertainties of a violent battlefield.
On February 3, 1943, the Dorchester was torpedoed, and rapidly began to sink. Clark Poling and his three fellow chaplains assisted in the evacuation of the ship, calmed the fearful, and guided the wounded to safety. Even with life jackets, the chances of survival were small in the frigid water. But without life jackets the chances of survival were zero. The four chaplains gave their own life vests to others, remaining behind until the ship sank below the surface. One survivor recalled what he saw from the water:
“The last thing I saw, the Four Chaplains were up there praying for the safety of the men. They had done everything they could. I did not see them again. They themselves did not have a chance without their life jackets.”
Of the 940 men aboard the Dorchester, only 230 survived. Many of those who did, at least four perhaps, owed their lives to four clergymen who were found to be adequate for the task.
The Iraqi theater of operations is not exactly Normandy. In five years (+) of fighting, there have been less than one third the casualties of the Battle of the Bulge. The heroes of this war are those who went in early on, and have made it a safer place. Nonetheless, there are still people there who live only to see another American soldier die, so it is not exactly a safe place. Just safer.
As you pray for me and the soldiers of the 779th Engineer Battalion, I ask you to go back to the top and read Chaplain Poling’s request to his father. Pray that God will make me adequate.