U.S. Army Institute for Religious Leadership
See footnotes [1] [2]
The U.S. Army Institute for Religious Leadership (USAIRL) is part of the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center (AFCC), which also includes the Air Force Chaplain Service Institute (AFCSI) and the U.S. Naval Chaplaincy School and Center (NCSC). The three schools are co-located at Fort Jackson, in Columbia, S.C. [3]
In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission decided to put all military ministry training at the same location. While it was authorized, funding was not part of the BRAC, and the Air Force departed Ft Jackson in 2012, currently leaving only the Army and Navy at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center. [3]
The purpose of the AFCC was to have closer cooperation among the three chaplain corps and to share instruction and training. While that was the goal, the core curricula were maintained by the three service schools and a joint program of instruction (POI) was never created. [3]
The U.S. Army Chaplain School was approved on 9 February 1918. Its first session began on 3 March 1918, at Fort Monroe, Virginia. [4] Chaplain (MAJ) Aldred A. Pruden, who developed the plan for the school, was named the first commandant of the school. [4] It subsequently moved to Camp Zachary Taylor (Kentucky), Camp Grant (Illinois), Fort Leavenworth (Kansas), Fort Benjamin Harrison (Indiana), Harvard University (Massachusetts), Fort Devens (Mass.), Fort Oglethorpe (Georgia), Carlisle Barracks (Pennsylvania), Fort Slocum (New York) (1951–62), Fort Hamilton (N.Y.) (1962–74), Fort Wadsworth (N.Y.) (1974–79), and Fort Monmouth (New Jersey) (1979–95). [4]
Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located 16.1 miles (25.9 km) south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force Air Mobility Command. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Fort Dix census-designated place (CDP) had a total population of 7,716, of which 5,951 were in New Hanover Township, 1,765 were in Pemberton Township, and none were in Springfield Township.
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric, or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution, or a private chapel. The term chaplaincy refers to the chapel, facility or department in which one or more chaplains carry out their role.
The awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces include various medals, service ribbons, ribbon devices, and specific badges which recognize military service and personal accomplishments of members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Such awards are a means to outwardly display the highlights of a service member's career.
The United States Navy Chaplain Corps is the body of military chaplains of the United States Navy who are commissioned naval officers. Their principal purpose is "to promote the spiritual, religious, moral, and personal well-being of the members of the Department of the Navy," which includes the Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Additionally, the Chaplain Corps provides chaplains to the United States Coast Guard.
A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases, they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations.
The Army Medical Department of the U.S. Army (AMEDD), formerly known as the Army Medical Service (AMS), encompasses the Army's six medical Special Branches. It was established as the "Army Hospital" in July 1775 to coordinate the medical care required by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The AMEDD is led by the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, a lieutenant general.
The Military Intelligence Corps is the intelligence branch of the United States Army. The primary mission of military intelligence in the U.S. Army is to provide timely, relevant, accurate, and synchronized intelligence and electronic warfare support to tactical, operational and strategic-level commanders. The Army's intelligence components produce intelligence both for Army use and for sharing across the national intelligence community.
The Royal Australian Army Chaplains' Department (RAAChD) is an all-officer corps of the Australian Army that provides ordained clergy to minister to the personnel of the Australian Army. RAAChD chaplains belong to either one of several Christian churches, or to the Jewish faith. As of 2012, there are 67 serving regular chaplains (commonly known as 'padres') in the Australian Army. There are also 83 chaplains in the Australian Army Reserve.
The Chaplain Corps of the United States Air Force (USAF) is composed of both clergy—commissioned officers who have been endorsed and ordained by a religious organization—and enlisted Religious Affairs. As military chaplains, their main purpose is to support the free exercise of religion by members of the military service, their dependents, and other authorized personnel. They also provide advice on spiritual, ethical, moral, and religious-accommodation issues to the leadership of the United States Department of Defense.
Frank Richard Spencer is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Formerly a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and a U.S. Army chaplain, he was appointed an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services by Pope Benedict XVI on May 22, 2010.
William Richard Arnold was an American Army officer and prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the 5th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army from 1937 to 1945 and Military Delegate of the Armed Forces from 1945 until his death in 1965.
In the United States armed forces, the Chiefs of Chaplains of the United States are the senior service chaplains who lead and represent the Chaplain Corps of the United States Army, Navy, and Air Force. The Navy created the first Office of the Chief of Chaplains in 1917; the Army followed in 1920, and the Air Force established its own in 1948 after it became a separate branch.
The Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps (CHMC) is a position always filled by the officers serving as Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy as a "dual hatted" billet since 2000. The CHMC oversees religious ministry in the Marine Corps which one Commandant of the Marine Corps defined as "a vital function which enhances the personal, family, and community readiness of our Marines, sailors, and their families. Chaplaincy supports the foundational principle of free exercise of religion and helps to enrich the spiritual, moral and ethical fabric of the military."
Buddhists make up a small percentage of the United States military, with a 2009 article stating that only 5,287 of 1.4 million military personnel identified themselves as Buddhists.
Religious symbolism in the United States military includes the use of religious symbols for military chaplain insignia, uniforms, emblems, flags, and chapels; symbolic gestures, actions, and words used in military rituals and ceremonies; and religious symbols or designations used in areas such as headstones and markers in national cemeteries, and military ID tags.
The Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center (AFCC) was the center for training of United States military chaplains, located at Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina. Co-located on the AFCC campus were: the United States Army Chaplain Center and School, the United States Naval Chaplaincy School and Center, and the United States Air Force Chaplain Corps College. The Center includes the "Joint Center of Excellence for Religious Training and Education."
United States military chaplains hold positions in the armed forces of the United States and are charged with conducting religious services and providing counseling for their adherents. As of 2011, there are about 2,900 chaplains in the Army, among the active duty, reserve, and National Guard components.
In addition to the three official Chaplain Corps seals for the army, navy, and air force, chaplaincies also have special seals and emblems for special schools and organizations for their chaplains, as well as a shared emblem for the "Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center" (AFCC), Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina, where chaplains from all branches of the military receive their training. The original AFCC emblem had three symbols traditionally associated with learning and wisdom—a lamp, a torch and a book. A second emblem was developed by the Commandants and Commanding Officer of the three schools, in part so that it could be used on the reverse side of a two-sided AFCC challenge coin, with one symbol drawn from each of the army, navy, and Chaplain Corps emblems: a dove from the army emblem, cupped hands from the air force emblem, and an anchor from the navy emblem. In addition to using both emblems on the two sides of the AFCC coin, both designs were displayed in the AFCC lobby.
Service by Muslims in the United States military dates back to the American Revolutionary War, where records indicate that there were some Muslims who fought on the revolutionary side against the British.
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