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Military chaplains hold services on major bases as well as travel the battlefield throughout Afghanistan, providing a backbone of support for thousands of soldiers struggling with the difficulties of war and year-long deployments away from home. –John Moore / Getty Images (23 images) View photos at The Sacramento Bee

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The chaplains of Task Force Mountain Warrior are providing spiritual fitness to Soldiers by visiting every combat outpost and forward operating base in their area of operation in eastern Afghanistan at least once a month. “Not all Soldiers have the privilege to be located on the main FOBs where they can [...]

BADULA QULP, AFGHANISTAN — The U.S. Army brigade’s Catholic priest spits, smokes, cracks jokes and has come under fire like so many other American soldiers. He keeps altar bread in an empty grenade canister. On Sunday, he donned purple and white vestments over his uniform and celebrated Mass on a makeshift altar of four stacked [...]

Chaplain (Captain) Richard A. Hill, a Christian Reformed Church minister, began serving a year-long deployment in August 2009 as an active-duty Army Chaplain in Iraq where needs, especially of a spiritual nature, are many. Even as the war is reportedly winding down, Hill has been very busy working with more than 800 soldiers and, indirectly, [...]

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAREZ, Iraq – While U.S. Soldiers concentrate on training Iraqi Security Forces to provide a safe and secure environment for themselves, one Richmond, Va., resident is just as busy, providing a welcome respite for matters of the spirit. Chaplain (Maj.) Sid A. Taylor, a 15-year Army veteran, is a National Baptist minister [...]

COB BASRA – The expansive new chapel at Contingency Operating Base Basra saw its first service Christmas Eve with a crowd that filled the 300 seats and saw more than a few standing to hear the message of hope and vigilance delivered by Chaplain (Lt. Col.) John Morris. Not traditional in every aspect, the service [...]

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – What started out as a simple idea from St. Louis, Mo. native, Capt. Greg Patton, the chaplain for the 620th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 96th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), turned into a mission for his assistant.  Patton said that he wanted to decorate the local gym and dining facility, [...]

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – The 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) out of Fort Hood, Texas, held an all 13th ESC Resiliency Counseling Training Conference for chaplains and chaplain’s assistants at the Provider Chapel Dec. 1-4 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. The training was to educate 13th ESC unit ministry teams in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills [...]