Photo By William Dodge | NEWPORT, R.I. – The Naval Chaplaincy School (NCS) hosted the latest iteration of its...... read more read more
NEWPORT, R.I. – The Naval Chaplaincy School (NCS) hosted the latest iteration of its annual Interservice Research Convocation on July 17, 2025.
The convocation, which welcomed chaplains, ministers, and scholars from across the Department of Defense for the first-ever interservice-focused event, was held virtually with the theme “Fostering Cooperative Research on Professional Military Chaplaincy.” Chaplain Capt. Charles Varsogea, NCS’s commanding officer, opened the event, stressing the importance of shared scholarship for modern warfighters.
“We discover in one another’s work, the puzzle pieces that combine to make for greatness in the care of souls,” said Varsogea. “We are overjoyed by the passion of our participants taking part in this convocation, enabling them to learn from one another so they can then strengthen the spirits of our service members across our service branches, across our forces. We're always interested in how we can help one another build the spiritual readiness of our people and steel them for the work that they must do in defense of our nation.”
This year’s convocation marked a milestone by bringing together the Army, Navy, and Air Force chaplaincy schoolhouses, allowing each service to share how it continues to foster chaplaincy scholarship within its organizations.
“I learned a lot and believe that this will be a catalyst for great collaboration, projects, and research going forward,” said U.S. Air Force Chaplain Lt. Col. Eric Wismar, assigned to the Connecticut Air National Guard. “I’m very interested in how we might continue to collaborate across services to create a joint chaplaincy research initiative focused on AI, moral injury, and spiritual readiness.”
The virtual convocation included presentations from each service’s schoolhouse, focusing on informing participants about cooperative research, writing, and scholarship pathways available throughout the professional military chaplaincy community in the hope of gaining momentum and inspiring ongoing partnerships with contributors to the field.
Participants echoed these sentiments, with many expressing a renewed sense of community and shared purpose.
“This was such a blessing,” said Chaplain Lt. Lee Yi, assigned to U.S. Coast Guard Sector Charleston. “The Interservice Research Convocation provided me an opportunity to see what chaplains in other branches are doing and how I can incorporate some of that into my own military ministry. It’s no surprise that we operate in silos when really, we could be learning so much from each other.”
Chaplain Cmdr. Peter Ott, the N4 department head at NCS and deputy force chaplain for Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), concluded the convocation by extending his gratitude to all participants and encouraging them to share the convocation’s resources and opportunities with peers and scholars in ministry and religious studies.
“May today be just a conversation starter as we continue to build on this opportunity, listening and learning from each branch, exploring how we partner in professional military chaplaincy across services,” said Ott.
As part of NETC’s Center for Service Support (CSS), NCS trains Navy chaplains and RPs to fulfill a critical role in helping the Navy achieve and maintain a ready force. Their enduring mission is to train, develop, and inspire RMTs to pursue excellence as they strengthen the soul of the warfighter, the family, and the fleet.
CSS provides Sailors in the Naval Administration, Chaplaincy, Command Support Program Management, Human Resources, Logistics, Maintenance Coordination, Media, and Security Management communities the necessary professional skills, knowledge, and education to support the fleet’s warfighting mission.
For more information about ongoing research initiatives or to connect with Navy, Army, and Air Force chaplain scholars, interested parties are encouraged to contact the Naval Chaplaincy School or visit their official website here: https://www.netc.navy.mil/NCS/.
To learn more about CSS, follow here: https://www.netc.navy.mil/CSS/.
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2025 12:15 |
| Story ID: | 544773 |
| Location: | RHODE ISLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Naval Chaplaincy School holds annual Interservice Research Convocation, by William Dodge, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
