Anyone have any experience with millitary chaplains?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I posted here earlier a while back about my interest in becoming a Air Force Reserve chaplain.

I am looking into this again and I was wondering if anyone knew one.

Paging Airman Doors, USAF? :smiley:

2

Sure, lots. What do you want to know? You didn’t really ask much of a question in the OP.

3

I don’t really know what to ask. I guess I was just curious about your relationship with the chaplain and things like that. What you noticed him doing, etc.

4

I have seen chaplains do the following:

Provide counselling - actually it was funny. I mentioned to an instructor on a course that I wanted to see a chaplain. I had something I wanted to chat about, but it wasn’t an emergency or anything. Within half an hour I was pulled out of class and driven to the chaplain. It’s not something they fool around with.

Lead services - as per usual - Sunday, wedding, funerals

Prayers at parades/presentations/mess dinners

I know here chaplains are not required to make it through basic training - they take a military familiarization course

5

Military chaplains do all sorts of things, depending on what is needed at their bases. They conduct services–including non-denominational services, are generally the first line of counselors dealing with troubled soldiers, marital counseling, grief counseling, etc. They’ll also fill in where needed…morale officers, helping with charity events, choir activities, you name it, if it isn’t direct involvement in combat, surgery, or technical maintenance, and a chaplain has probably done it.

They may be underappreciated in tangible ways…but the troops generally love them for all the stuff they do.

6

I went to a chaplain during my first few months in the Army for counseling about my strong desire to get back out of the Army. What I remember about him all these years later is that he was much more concerned about his poor prospects for promotion than about my problems. I think I caught him at a bad time.

7

I went to a chaplain for some advice/counseling while I was going through a rough patch in my service. Not being a religious type myself, it seemed odd at first, but with me he acted more as a counselor, and didn’t give me any ‘spiritual’ advice.