A Summary of my 22-year Army Chaplain Career By Chaplain (Major) Steven W. Satterfield, US Army Reserve, Retired
I joined the Army Reserve in March 2001. After September 11, the Army needed Chaplains, so I went on Active duty for eleven years. I was able to see the Army grow from 200 to 20,000 Soldiers at Arifjan, Kuwait, when Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003. My main duties were checking on my 1,000 Soldiers, leading music and preaching at services, and counseling. We were shot at eight times by Scud missiles by Saddam Hussein, so we had to put on our protective gear and hide in bunkers until we were safe. It was an honor to serve during this challenging time in the world.
My next assignment took me to Iraq for four months as we helped close the infamous Abu Ghraib prison and open the new Cropper one in its place. We were mortared weekly. One of them came close to a First Sergeant and me.…