COB BASRAH – Chaplain’s assistants have always played a crucial role in supporting other Soldiers, a legacy that reaches the one-hundred year milestone this year.
These Soldiers play an integral function in the U.S. Army, bringing to the field three things the Army calls “force multipliers”, said Lt. Col. John Morris, from Afton, Minn., the 34th Infantry Division chaplain.
“First, they bring combat skills to bear, which allows me to move around the battlefield,” he said, “second, they have the administrative skills necessary to run a staff section, and third, they are the voice of the enlisted Soldier.”
An assistants’ enlisted status allows them to act as a liaison, said Master Sgt. Adam Johnson, 34th Inf. Div. unit ministry team noncommissioned officer in charge.
“Sometimes Soldiers can be intimidated by rank, and chaplain’s assistants act as a bridge from enlisted-Soldier to officer-chaplain,” said the Monticello, Minn. native.
An assistant’s duties include managing logistical needs and ensuring service times and locations are communicated properly and timely. They also play a role in battle tracking, said Johnson.
“We are battle-staff trained, which lets us know where the chaplain can and can’t go,” he said. “You want to avoid a firefight if you can, but he will be in one if he is needed there.”
Morris works frequently with Soldiers in this vital Military Occupational Specialty. “Their role can be summed-up in one word,” said Morris, “critical.”
So vital a position might be expected to be as established in the Army as infantry, but that is not the case, Johnson says.
“The chaplain’s assistant is a fairly new MOS,” he said.
The chaplain’s assistant position was established Dec. 28, 1909, but the role appeared more like that of a special duty for Soldiers who had skills that could aid chaplains, who then served as schoolmasters, said Johnson.
Not until the 1950’s, during the Korean War, did the MOS, identified as 71B, begin to develop into something more.
“Finally it was our own MOS,” said Johnson.
In 1965, the MOS became known as 71M. After 2001 it was redubbed 56M, and took on the manifestation recognized today.
That role has allowed the chaplains throughout the Army to effectively support Soldiers in their times of need.
“They are another set of eyes and ears and know where the needs are,” said Morris.
The century mark is an important milestone for the chaplain’s assistants as an integral part of the U.S. fighting force.
“Today chaplain’s assistants are highly professional and highly skilled,” Morris said, “They do all the things that other Soldiers do and are there working with all Soldiers to meet their moral, ethical, and spiritual needs.”
