Military Chaplains in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Beyond

Military Chaplains in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Beyond
Author: Eric Patterson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2014-08-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442235403

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The role of military chaplains has changed over the past decade as Western militaries have deployed to highly religious environments such as East Africa, Afghanistan, and Iraq. U.S. military chaplains, who are by definition non-combatants, have been called upon by their war-fighting commanders to take on new roles beyond providing religious services to the troops. Chaplains are now also required to engage the local citizenry and provide their commanders with assessments of the religious and cultural landscape outside the base and reach out to local civilian clerics in hostile territory in pursuit of peace and understanding. In this edited volume, practitioners and scholars chronicle the changes that have happened in the field in the twenty-first century. Using concrete examples, this volume takes a critical look at the rapidly changing role of the military chaplain, and raises issues critical to U.S. foreign and national security policy and diplomacy.

A Bridge in Babylon

A Bridge in Babylon
Author: Owen R. Chandler
Publisher: Chalice Press
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2021-06-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0827203187

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Army chaplain Owen Chandler takes us to the battlefields of Iraq in this gripping spiritual memoir of war, love, family, church and God. As an Arizona Army National Reservist, Rev. Chandler was deployed to Iraq as chaplain of the 336th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, leaving behind his wife, three young children, and a congregation for more than a year. In this honest and eloquent memoir, Chandler shares his story of serving as an “embedded presence of hope” in Iraq through personal letters, journal entries, scriptures and photos exchanged with family back home. Expanding far beyond the military chaplain caricature of M*A*S*H’s Father Francis Mulcahy, Chandler reflects on the brutal realities of war, his fellow soldiers, and the families waiting for them all to come home. He shares the struggle to hold onto faith and hope in the midst of battlefields, opening readers’ hearts to the challenges of military chaplaincy and the plight of veterans shattered by their experiences. A Bridge to Babylon inspires readers and provide tools to create bridges to our veterans, especially Reserve soldiers with shockingly high rates of suicide and substance abuse.

Gateway to Iraq

Gateway to Iraq
Author: Rachel Coggins
Publisher: Xulon Press
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2009-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1615790608

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"Chaplain Coggins offers a glimpse into a world few civilians ever see. In retelling her experiences, Coggins reveals the struggles that confront today's war-zone soldiers and their loved ones, struggles that are often hidden from most Americans."--Page 4 of cover.

War in the Garden of Eden

War in the Garden of Eden
Author: Frank E. Wismer
Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2008
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781596271036

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Wismer, a recently retired Army colonel and chaplain, provides a behind-the-scenes look at life in Baghdad during the months following the invasion in 2003. His work not only reveals the daily drama of war, but also raises salient questions about U.S. strategy regarding the War on Terror.

Military Chaplains and Religious Diversity

Military Chaplains and Religious Diversity
Author: Kim Philip Hansen
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2012-09-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137025166

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Based on extensive in-depth interviews with more than thirty active duty chaplains regarding their successes, failures and conflicts, the book is about the way military chaplains handle religious diversity among the enlisted they serve and within their own corps.

Chaplaincy

Chaplaincy
Author: Mark A. Jumper
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2024-03-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1493441582

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This comprehensive introduction to the ministry of chaplaincy brings together three authors who oversee three of the leading chaplaincy programs in the United States. Written from an evangelical perspective, the book covers the foundations of chaplaincy and surveys specific types of chaplaincy work. In the first half of the book, the authors delve into the history of chaplaincy work as well as its biblical, theological, and philosophical foundations. They introduce students to important topics such as endorsement, placement, and the constitutional and legal parameters of such work. They also consider the person of the chaplain and the understanding of chaplaincy as Christian ministry. In the second half of the book, the authors bring together expert contributors to survey ten specific contexts for chaplaincy work, such as education, healthcare, the military, corporations, prisons, public safety, and sports, and they explore the future of chaplaincy. This book will be an invaluable resource for students of chaplaincy.

Religion on the Battlefield

Religion on the Battlefield
Author: Ron E. Hassner
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2016-05-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1501703684

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How does religion shape the modern battlefield? Ron E. Hassner proposes that religion acts as a force multiplier, both enabling and constraining military operations. This is true not only for religiously radicalized fighters but also for professional soldiers. In the last century, religion has influenced modern militaries in the timing of attacks, the selection of targets for assault, the zeal with which units execute their mission, and the ability of individual soldiers to face the challenge of war. Religious ideas have not provided the reasons why conventional militaries fight, but religious practices have influenced their ability to do so effectively. In Religion on the Battlefield, Hassner focuses on the everyday practice of religion in a military context: the prayers, rituals, fasts, and feasts of the religious practitioners who make up the bulk of the adversaries, bystanders, and observers during armed conflicts. To show that religious practices have influenced battlefield decision making, Hassner draws most of his examples from major wars involving Western militaries. They include British soldiers in the trenches of World War I, U.S. pilots in World War II, and U.S. Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hassner shows that even modern, rational, and bureaucratized military organizations have taken—and must take—religious practice into account in the conduct of war.

Uncommon Valor

Uncommon Valor
Author: Dwight Jon Zimmerman
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2010-09-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1429988916

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Uncommon Valor from Dwight Jon Zimmerman and John D. Gresham presents a fascinating look at six of our bravest soldiers and the highest military decoration awarded in this country. Since the Vietnam War ended in 1973, the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest award for valor, has been presented to only eight men for their actions "above and beyond the call of duty." Six of the eight were young men who had fought in the current war in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both. All of these medals were awarded posthumously, as all had made the choice to give their lives so that their comrades might live. Uncommon Valor answers the searing question of who these six young soldiers were, and dramatically details how they found themselves in life-or-death situations, and why they responded as they did. For the first time, this book also provides a comprehensive history of the Medal of Honor itself—one marred by controversies, scandals, and theft. Using an extraordinary range of sources, including interviews with family members and friends, teammates and superiors in the military, personal letters, blogs posted within hours of events, personal and official videos and newly declassified documents, Uncommon Valor is a compelling and important work that recounts incredible acts of heroism and lays bare the ultimate sacrifice of our bravest soldiers.