Photo By Staff Sgt. Ryan Tatum | Chaplain (COL) Robert Brown, Chaplain for First Army, Catherine Hutchings, a board...... read more read more
Catherine Hutchings, a board member of the Fort McCoy Protestant Women of Chapel, received the Chaplain Corps distinguish spouse award the Order of Martha Washington March 4, 2021, at Fort McCoy, Wis., for a her untiring efforts to support God, the nation, the Army and the Chaplain Corps.
Chaplain (COL) Robert Brown, First Army Chaplain, presented Mrs. Hutchings the award and explained why she was being recognized.
“The PWOC motto is ‘we are workers together for Christ;’ PWOC is about you all serving Christ in the chapels and reaching out to other people,” said Brown. “I came here tonight because Catherine has literally epitomized that for her entire life as a part of the Chaplain Corps.’
‘Martha Washington was actively involved with George Washington to the extent of feeding Soldiers, being out there caring for them,” said Brown. “Catherine, my dear lady, you have done that in the name of Christ for many years. Catherine we want to say thank you, you are special and the chief of chaplains wants us to give you the Order of Martha Washington.”
Hutchings, who has supported PWOC in various chapters, gave insight on why she continues to support this organization for as long as she has.
“Our first duty station was Fort Hood, I knew nothing about the military or anything, and somebody invited me to the PWOC chapter there,” said Hutchings. “I was just blown away by how caring the ladies were towards each other, how much they did reach out and try to reach and encourage the ladies of the post.”
Hutchings has served as a member of the board, teaching bible study, or singing on the praise team. The Fort McCoy PWOC chapter was set to relaunch last March, but due to COVID-19, the chapter lost its wind to sail yet was determined to make an effective change in the community.
“In the fall, we figured out that we could meet at night so that we did not have to worry about the childcare and we got the bible study started,” said Hutchings “We started with about eight people who came to the first meeting and we have worked up to about 20 ladies coming now.”
The goal of the Fort McCoy PWOC is to reach out to the ladies of Fort McCoy, to let them know that women have a place to be encouraged and to meet other like-minded ladies who want to learn more about Christ.
Hutchings displayed humbleness and appreciation when accepting the award but felt that there was only one thing that helped her through it all.
“Being a part of the PWOC has made me a better person, I am very shy by nature and in different leadership roles I have found that I haven’t felt qualified for any of it but Christ helps me with all of it,” said Hutchings. “I received this award because of what other people see in me, which is Christ. It is an honor to receive this award.”
| Date Taken: | 03.05.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2021 16:32 |
| Story ID: | 391081 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Hometown: | COLUMBIA, SC, US |
| Hometown: | MACON, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 241 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Chaplain Spouse Receives the Order of Martha Washington Award, by SSG Ryan Tatum, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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