Military Chaplains in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Beyond

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.

“It is unlikely that a military chaplain can find a more complete expression of God's calling to serve Him and His people than in the work of building bridges with religious leaders from other nations. Each of us brings our own unique gifts to the peace-building effort but the mission to become stronger partners and care for our warriors remains the same. This book defines the proposal, the process, the potential and some of the pitfalls we face as military chaplains in a new era of 'loving our neighbor as ourselves' while serving our women and men in uniform. It is precisely what we need and it's long overdue.”

It is unlikely that a military chaplain can find a more complete expression of God's calling to serve Him and His people than in the work of building bridges with religious leaders from other nations. Each of us brings our own unique gifts to the peace-building effort but the mission to become stronger partners and care for our warriors remains the same. This book defines the proposal, the process, the potential and some of the pitfalls we face as military chaplains in a new era of 'loving our neighbor as ourselves' while serving our women and men in uniform. It is precisely what we need and it’s long overdue. -- Brian R. Van Sickle, USAF (ret); Former Command Chaplain USEUCOM

About the editorEric Patterson is dean of the School of Government and associate professor of political science at Regent University. He is also senior research fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. He is the author or editor of nine books, including Ending Wars Well: Just War Thinking and Post-Conflict (2012) and a Choice Highly Recommended Title, Ethics Beyond War's End ( 2012). Patterson served as a White House Fellow and at the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, and has nearly seventeen years of continuing service as an officer in the Air National Guard. He has been a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.About the contributorsRabbi Captain Jon Cutler was director of Religious Affairs for Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA).Ron E. Hassner is Associate Professor in International Relations at the University of California, Berkeley and a co-director of Berkeley’s Religion, Politics and Globalization Program.Lashanda Hess-Hernandez is Assistant to the Dean and Oxford Program Coordinator at Robertson School of Government.Colonel (Ret) Mike Hoyt served over 30 years active duty at every level of the Army Chaplaincy and joint command staffs. As the Director for Army Chaplain Corps Operations, the Pentagon, Chaplain Hoyt helped shape the strategic and institutional issues supporting the Army Chaplaincy for the next ten years.Chaplain (LtCol) Eric Keller (U.S. Army, ret.) provided critical state-side support within the Army chaplaincy following 9/11.Padre (LtCol) Steve Moore has served as a chaplain in the Canadian Forces for 22 years. His operational tours include Bosnia during the war (1993), Haiti (1997) and the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team, Afghanistan for research purposes (2006).Commander Dayne E. Nix, CHC, USN (Ret.), served twenty-seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy. He currently teaches joint maritime operations for the U.S. Naval War College at the Naval Postgraduate School, in Monterey, California.Pauletta Otis is Professor of Security Studies at the Command and Staff College, Marine Corps University. She has served as a member of the Defense Intelligence Advisory Board and in a senior advisory capacity for the U.S. military chaplains. Gary E. Roberts is Associate Professor of Government at Regent University. Previously, he was a tenured faculty member at Fairleigh Dickinson University and the University of Memphis.LtCol David West is the founder Central Command’s Center of Excellence of Af-Pak. Working with the support of then U.S. Central Command commander General David Petraeus, he met with religious leaders, including Wahhabi and Deobandi madrassa leaders from Pakistan.Chaplain (Colonel) Eric Wester has thirty-two years of military service culminating as a senior military chaplain and Army colonel, and nine years as a senior military leader in chaplaincy at senior command and strategic education.

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.

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