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Air Force Chaplain explains chaplain’s role in GWOT

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Joel Mease
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  During a visit to Shaw, Chaplin (Maj. Gen.) Charles C. Baldwin, Air Force Chaplains Service chief, talked with the The Shaw Spirit Jan. 20 about various issues involving the Air Force Chaplain Service that effect Airmen across the Air Force. 

Q: How has the chaplain’s role changed since the Global War on Terrorism started? 
A: We are becoming a more expeditionary career field. The war in Iraq has really highlighted that our role is to be out there supporting our servicemembers. It has also shown there is a need to look after their family members back home in addition to the normal activities at the chapel. 

Q: Are there any key contributions chaplains have made in the Global War on Terrorism? 
A: There are at least one or two chaplains, sometimes more, at every base in the 
area of responsibility. We have been blessed to go with the deployed Airmen and grateful to take care of those back at home. Our goal is to send every chaplain and chaplain’s assistant to the AOR. They come back a much better chaplain or assistant when they get to know more about the sacrifices our servicemembers make. It has been amazing to see the results of the sacrifices made, watching a country being rebuilt and its people liberated. It has been worth the sacrifice. 

Q: For a family new to the Air Force, what services should they expect from the chapel? How does it differ from services they may be used to from their congregation back home? 
A: We want to be your parish away from home. Our chaplains offer many diverse programs to fit a family’s needs. An item that is special to military chaplains is the privileged confidential communication between a person and their chaplain. This protected right isn’t just available to servicemembers, it’s also available to their family members as well. The Air Force will not allow a chaplain to stay in the military if he or she violates this communication. Our people need to know there is a safe place to go outside their chain of command. 

Q: How difficult is it for chaplains to deal with the large variety of emotional and spiritual needs from Airmen and their families? 
A: Like any pastor, we rely on the help of God to be our source of strength. We hope God will use us to help someone else. 

Q: How have chaplains been able to help with those affected by Hurricane Katrina? 
A: The support has been amazing. Within a month, Air Force chapels gave more than $500,000 in collections to the Keesler Chapel. The chaplains at Keesler Air Force Base, (Miss.), were then able to distribute those collections to those who were in need. Air Force-wide, chapels and base communities have really responded to take care of our own and others. 

Q: What is the Air Force doing to recruit more diverse chaplains? 
A: We have doubled the number of chaplain recruiters, and we are sending them out to seminaries all across the country. We are specifically short in Roman Catholic and Liturgical chaplains. Those are two specific areas we need to fill.