For chaplains to become effective ministers to troops in the field, they undergo specific training about the rules and customs of Army life. Saul Gonzalez reports on how Army chaplains are pepared to provide religious guidance in war zones and the guidlines of their ministries.
JIM LEHRER: Finally tonight, boot camp for military chaplains.
NewsHour correspondent Saul Gonzalez of KCET-Los Angeles has the story. A version of this report aired on the PBS program “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.”
SAUL GONZALEZ: At Fort Jackson, South Carolina, soldiers train for the dangers of Iraq and Afghanistan.
SOLDIER: Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!
SAUL GONZALEZ: This recent afternoon, it was a simulated insurgent ambush on a military convoy.
SOLDIER: Combat base. This is Charlie One. Copy that.
SAUL GONZALEZ: But many of the troops in this exercise, the ones not carrying weapons, aren’t warriors. They’re members of the clergy attending the Army’s boot camp for chaplains.
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