Thanks a ton. I wrote NR and included these bullet points:
-the Bronze Star was awarded for meritorious service over a period of six months, not for one incident that lasted 48-72 hours
-the citation package includes bullet points outlining other achievements during the deployment
-the award was given, in part, because I was serving as a Lt Col on a command staff with oversight of every chaplain deployed in the AOR...in other words the significance of the position and the rank of the individual play a large part in the kind of medal given
-the training package in response to the Quran burning is mentioned because it had theater-wide import—strategic implications, not because it had anything to do with Islam
Here is a fairer representation of my tour: http://sunburynews.com/2012/06/lt-col-jon-trainer-harlem-zoning-board-presented-bronze-star/
Chap T
In the Army, commanders, when they had their “combat leader” hats on, would refer to chaplain ministry as “combat multipliers” .
All the work listed in that article you linked me to is exactly that.
What civilians don’t recognize is what being in combat (even a combat zone) does to the human spirit. Since death is so close and so commonly witnessed, our troops begin to wonder about life and death in a real — not a philosophical — way.
The question faced by the military is “Would we want religious leaders largely self-appointed to just show up one day?” There are some awesome pastors who have just “risen up”. Amos in Amos 7, as he so eloquently said: “I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees...”
And there are some absolutely terrible ones.
With a mission, lives, and a nation on the line, and troops with a real need to get in touch with God, would you rather have leading the spiritual lives of your troops a called and ordained, experienced representative of a recognized US religious body, or would you rather trust spiritual leadership to whomever happens along?
How much influence in times of real death and serious injury can a religious leader have? Experience says they can have enormous influence. The old expression, “there are no atheists in foxholes” didn’t just happen to get coined.
So, thank you for your service, Chaplain, and for your availability to our troops when they needed a pastor at a most crucial time of their lives.
Thank you both for your service and your help here in clearing up a terrible misunderstanding brought about by poor writing.