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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. I was surprised to read this recent news: Abu Ghraib Military Contractor Pushes Back on $42M Torture Verdict | VeteranLife. Lord, may there be justice in that situation.

          After the 5-month residential Chaplain (Captain) Career Course (learning how to be a Major), my next assignment brought me to east Afghanistan for a year. My Chaplain Assistant and I flew in helicopters weekly to check on our Soldiers throughout the region. Unfortunately, the 4^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4^th Infantry Division lost 59 Soldiers that year, which was featured in the movie The Outpost (2019) - IMDb.

          Next, Christ wanted me to switch from Active Duty to the Colorado Army National Guard while I worked full-time at the Federal prisons in Florence, Colorado, for 12 years as a Chaplain. I visited some Guard locations in Colorado, spent a month training at the Division Tactical Operations Center at Camp Indiana, and a month preparing the 169^th Field Artillery Brigade to deploy to the Middle East. The Colorado Guard allowed me to go Active Duty for 1.5 years at Ft. Carson’s hospital as the Senior Clinician, as I trained Chaplains on how to work in a hospital as we visited patients and their Families.

           Since I was with the same Guard unit for six years, it was time for a change. I transferred to the US Army Civil Affairs / Psychological Operations Command, where I trained Chaplains, Chaplain Candidates, and Assistants in Oklahoma, and I visited our units in Colorado, California, and Florida. They allowed me to go Active Duty again at Ft. Carson, Colorado, to be the rear detachment 2^nd Brigade Combat Team (the same one I went to Afghanistan with in the past) for seven months and for the 36^th Engineer Brigade for four months. I retired with the 1^st Professional Development Brigade, which taught Cadets at Ft. Knox, Kentucky and I visited our Soldiers in Colorado, Minnesota, and Virginia. I’m thankful the Lord allowed me to survive and somewhat thrive as an Army Chaplain!