Photo By Spc. Gary Yim | CH (Capt.) Dilio Anselm Onyejiuwa of 129th Chaplain Detachment Division says a prayer...... read more read more
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FORT KNOX, Ky. - Nine chaplains from the Army Reserve are spending their summer at Fort Knox, Kentucky, to provide spiritual support for the Cadet Summer Training (CST) and train chaplain candidates.
About 8,500 cadets will be coming here for training this summer. The Chaplain Corps is here to support them with 20 chaplain candidates, who are training to become fully fledged chaplains.
“Chaplain candidates are acting as battalion-level chaplains,” said Maj. Todd Wolf, 104th Training Division (Leader Training) chaplain, from Cheyenne, Wyoming. “Chaplain candidates serve as personal staff officers for their assigned command teams and spiritual leaders, who perform or provide worship opportunities.”
The chaplain trainers, acting as brigade-level chaplains, guide the chaplain candidates in addition to their regular ministry duties. “You know when they’re learning because they’re getting more excited!” said Capt. Eduardo Murry, chaplain of the 598th Transportation Brigade, one of the chaplain trainers. “They’re learning more of how the Army wants them to do the ministry as well.”
Murry, who lives in Atlanta, enlisted in the Army in 1981. After leaving active duty, he began ministering in the 1990s. “In the early 2000s, I thought that I love the Army, I love God, so why not combine the two?” Murry said. “And I’ve had a wonderful career thus far.”
Just as different individuals have different reasons for joining the Army, different chaplains take different paths to becoming the spiritual leaders of our Soldiers.
Another chaplain trainer, Capt. Dilio Anselm Onyejiuwa of the 129th Chaplain Detachment Division, was already an ordained Roman Catholic priest in his home country of Nigeria when he immigrated to his home in Long Island, N.Y., in 2006. Chaplain Onyejiuwa knew that he wanted to serve in the Chaplain Corps. “I knew very well that the Army needs chaplains, and I feel myself obliged to be one of those who joins the team,” he said.
Onyejiuwa faces a unique challenge this summer. “Here, I am the only Catholic chaplain for this CST mission,” he said.
Wolf explained the Catholic Church has certain requirements that necessitate an ordained Catholic priest for their rituals.
“We have 19 regiments and only one Catholic chaplain for them all,” said Onyejiuwa. “So that’s why I feel very much obliged and happy to make it.”
Onyejiuwa doesn’t let this challenge dampen his spirit. “I’m very happy to be one of the members of the team to support and provide [for] not only the cadets but also the cadre, families and all the civilians who are working to make sure that the U.S. Army is what it should be.”
Murry echoed Onyejiuwa’s sentiment. “To be able to just have the opportunity to be a blessing and minister with all the young cadets, with the cadre, with the staff they have working in the dining facilities working all around post, even in the shoppette. You can go any and everywhere here and do ministry. The bonus is working with chaplain candidates who are also wanting to become chaplains. And they are here for the training. And to have that blessing, to be blessed to be called upon. To see what [the chaplain candidates] learn, when they leave here with all that knowledge that they have gained, it’s beautiful.”
| Date Taken: | 06.30.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.12.2015 11:16 |
| Story ID: | 169777 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 256 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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