From time to time, enlisted soldiers ask what it would take for them to become Army chaplains. Approximately 50% of chaplains were previously enlisted. I’m not one of them. So, if you want firsthand knowledge, speak to a chaplain who had prior service. Still, I think there are some helpful pointers I can share.

Understanding the picture

If you’re in the middle of BCT, don’t think you’ll become a chaplain in AIT. I’ve been told by trainees that they want to be chaplains. That’s well and good, but it takes years to complete the requirements for chaplaincy. If you’re just starting your career as a soldier, understand that you may have a while before you can qualify as a chaplain.

For an overview of the requirements for chaplaincy, I recommend that you read my series on the chaplain candidate program. It will help you understand the educational, denominational, and other requirements for chaplaincy.

In short, you must complete the following requirements:

Paying for your education
If you want to become a chaplain and do not have the requisite education, there are several options. If you’ve managed to live within your means and have been resourceful in saving or investing, you may have the funds necessary to complete your learning. If you have a family and your financial resources are tight, it will be a little harder.

Hopefully, you have some benefits accrued in the Montgomery GI Bill. If not, or if you need to supplement this, there are grants, scholarships, and loans available. Tuition assistance is also available.

If you are a reservist or enter the chaplain candidate program while in school and you receive tuition assistance, you will be required to serve one year in the Army Reserve for each year of tuition assistance you receive. If you wish to go on active duty before completing this reserve duty commitment, you must pay back the full amount of the tuition assistance you received. Consider carefully whether to apply for tuition assistance. If you want to go on active duty immediately after completing all requirements for chaplaincy, you may not want to take tuition assistance unless you can afford to pay it back. Think about how your family may be affected if you are required to pay back the money–or if you serve the time in the Reserve and, thereby, find it necessary to secure supplemental employment in the meantime.

The very first thing you should do toward financing your education is complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is used by the U.S. Department of Education to determine whether you are eligible for federal grants or loans. Even if you aren’t eligible for grants or loans, you should complete this form because it is almost always important for scholarships and other institutional aid. Sit down with a copy of your tax return and fill this out each year. The priority deadline for submission of the FAFSA set by most schools is March 1.

Making your finances work
Transitioning from enlisted to officer will mean a big boost in financial resources. However, if your situation requires that you move from active duty to reserve duty, you or your spouse may need to find a new job to help with your family expenses. If you are married and have children, finances will be tight–count on it. You’re probably used to this already from living on enlisted income.

If you are at a point where you wish to take a break in service to finish off your education, this is a good idea. If you have completed no educational requirements, you will need about four years for an undergraduate degree and three or four years for a master degree. If you can’t afford to be in school for seven or eight years straight, there are some alternatives.

If you have the requisite undergraduate degree already, you only need to find resources to pay for seminary. I’ve already covered some options above. If you remain on active duty, you may be able to complete up to 18 hours of graduate education through correspondence or Internet courses, depending on the seminary you wish to attend. This will allow you to continue on active duty with your regular pay. After you have completed all the work possible via this method, you may then need to change to reserve status.

At this point, you have two options: remain in your enlisted position or seek an appointment as a chaplain candidate. If you keep your enlisted spot, find a local reserve unit near your seminary where you can drill each month. This will help supplement your income a little. If you become a chaplain candidate, you will be commissioned a Second Lieutenant. You may be able to drill with a local reserve unit, if you wish, but you will not be paid. However, there are several chaplain candidate training opportunities offered throughout the year. Most training is available in the summer. So, as a candidate, you could train 30-45 days in a practicum each summer and earn pay at the rate of a Second Lieutenant. When you go through the Chaplain Officer Basic Course (CHOBC), you may train for a longer period of time. This would be a way to supplement your income.

The important difference between the enlisted and chaplain candidate option: as a drilling reservist, you are subject to callup and deployment; as a chaplain candidate, you are in a training status and are non-deployable. Consider what is best for you, remembering that, if you were deployed for a year, you would be that much behind in your education, so it would take longer to finish your education and to eventually get back on active duty as a chaplain.

If you have not completed your undergraduate degree, things will be a bit tougher. Again, there are options for completing college coursework by correspondence or Internet. Do as much as possible this way, remembering that your college will only accept a certain number of correspondence courses; check with the school to find out how much is acceptable. When you complete all of the correspondence courses you can, it’s time to enroll in residential courses. This means leaving active duty.

Because you do not yet have an undergraduate degree, you will not be able to be commissioned as a chaplain candidate. However, through the Green to Gold program, you may be able to participate in ROTC in college and receive a scholarship; contact the ROTC staff at your college to determine your eligibility. When you complete your college program and move on to seminary as a chaplain candidate, you can receive an ROTC waiver allowing you to forego immediate active duty service. Take advantage of grants, scholarships, loans, or whatever it is that you have to do to make it work. If you are married, your spouse may need to take a job. You may need to find a part-time job; usually, off-campus jobs will pay more but on-campus jobs may offer the opportunity for you to study while you work.

When you complete your undergraduate program, you can either continue to drill as a reservist or become a chaplain candidate. If you were in ROTC, you must become a chaplain candidate at this point in order to forego the required active duty assignment the ROTC program normally requires. If you become a chaplain candidate, you can complete some occasional training at the Second Lieutenant pay rate, as explained above.

If you thought undergraduate education was expensive, graduate school is even more so. Seek out scholarships, fellowships, grants, loans, teaching assistantships, or anything else that will help you pay for school. If you have any GI Bill benefits remaining, this is the time to use them. If finances are particularly tough, you may consider working full time for a semester or two while you complete a few correspondence or Internet courses toward your master degree, if your seminary will allow this. However, don’t expect to earn a graduate degree entirely through correspondence work–the Army requires that you complete a residential program.

Choosing a degree program
Which master degree should you seek? The Master of Divinity (M.Div.) generally is a 90-105 semester hour program. A Master of Theological Studies (MTS) is generally a 60-hour degree and would not qualify you for chaplaincy. A master degree program that requires at least 72 semester hours will qualify you for chaplaincy; the program must include at least 36 semester hours of religious studies. For example, you might simply enroll in the graduate school at the same university where you completed your undergraduate degree and work toward a master degree in the religious studies department. This way, you wouldn’t have to uproot your family for another move.

Check with your denomination to make sure that whatever degree program you enroll in will satisfy any denominational requirements for education. The worst thing you can do is earn a 72-hour degree when your denomination actually requires the M.Div. for ordination. You wouldn’t qualify for ordination and you can’t serve as a chaplain without ordination. If your denomination doesn’t require the M.Div., you have the option to choose a lesser degree program.

A few final notes
Remember that, in order to receive an appointment as a chaplain, you must be able to serve at least ten years on active duty after you receive an appointment. This may be a make or break issue for you, depending on your age and time in service. If you’re Roman Catholic, some exception may be made for your age because of the shortage of priests; talk with your endorser about this.

Watch for the second installment of this series soon.