FORT DRUM - On any given day, someone in the 10th Mountain Division is in the field training. One such training event is 1st Brigade Combat Team's Mountain Peak exercise, and of all the support services provided by the Army as a whole, only one fuels the spirit: the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps.
Providing for the spiritual and mental health of nearly 4,000 Soldiers requires patience, strength and compassion. Within the 1st Brigade Combat Team there are seven battalions, each with an Army Chaplain to guide them. And watching over them is the Brigade Chaplain, organizing religious services and counsel to the face-painted masses. Getting to the field is no easy task though.
"Number one, it takes a good non-commissioned officer to set up the whole event, and ensure the location is secure for service from enemy threat," said Chaplain (Maj.) Kenneth Lewis, 1st Brigade Combat Team Chaplain.
Success comes from the relationship between the Chaplains and the people they serve.
"Chaplains fuel the fighting spirit," Chaplain Lewis remarked. "They bring energy inside when [Soldiers] might not have any left. The Chaplain helps them generate that power and passion to fulfill the mission."
1st Brigade Combat Team's Mountain Peak exercise is set in an austere environment by design. It is not supposed to be easy or comfortable. This mission set of privation ensures Soldiers can be their best, even at the worst of times.
"We try to make sure the people, the Soldiers are ready for the next phase of battle. We advise Commands, internal and external. We perform and provide to Soldiers, we nurture, care and we honor. The bottom line is we find those people who need a little bit of encouragement and we take them to the next step to defeat the enemy, preserve their life so they can preserve their buddy's life."
At the end of the day, the Mountain Peak exercise is about finding and fixing those friction points that slow down operations while building teams and combat power. U.S. Army Chaplains build a power of another sort: the spiritual power of a warrior.