page_title: Chaplain
section_title: Military
hierarchical_section_title: Chaplain / Types of chaplaincies / Military
caption_attribution_description: Central Command Area of Responsibility (Apr. 19, 2003) -- Father Bill Devine, the 7th Marines' Regiment Chaplain, speaks to U.S. Marines assigned to the 5th Marine Regiment during Catholic Mass at one of Saddam Hussein's palaces in Tikrit, Iraq.
context_page_description: A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric, or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence agency, embassy, school, labor union, business, police department, fire department, university, sports club, or private chapel.
  Though originally the word chaplain referred to representatives of the Christian faith, it is now also applied to people of other religions or philosophical traditions, such as the case of chaplains serving with military forces and an increasing number of chaplaincies at U.S. universities. In recent times, many lay people have received professional training in chaplaincy and are now appointed as chaplains in schools, hospitals, companies, universities, prisons and elsewhere to work alongside, or instead of, official members of the clergy. The concepts of a multi-faith team, secular, generic or humanist chaplaincy are also gaining increasing use, particularly within healthcare and educational settings.
context_section_description: Military chaplains provide pastoral, spiritual and emotional support for service personnel, including the conduct of religious services at sea, on bases or in the field. Military chaplains have a long history; the first English military-oriented chaplains, for instance, were priests on board proto-naval vessels during the 8th century.  Land-based chaplains appeared during the reign of King Edward I. The current form of military chaplain dates from the era of the First World War.
  Chaplains are nominated, appointed, or commissioned in different ways in different countries. A military chaplain can be an army-trained soldier with additional theological training or an ordained person nominated to the army by religious authorities. In the United Kingdom the Ministry of Defence employs chaplains but their authority comes from their sending church. Royal Navy chaplains undertake a 16-week bespoke induction and training course including a short course at Britannia Royal Naval College and specialist fleet time at sea alongside a more experienced chaplain.  Naval chaplains called to service with the Royal Marines undertake a grueling five-month-long Commando Course and, if successful, wear the commandos' Green Beret.  British Army chaplains undertake seven weeks training at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre Amport House and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.  Royal Air Force chaplains must complete a 12-week Specialist Entrant course at the RAF College Cranwell followed by the Chaplains' Induction Course at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre Amport House of a further two weeks. The United States Navy will often give chaplain training to cadets seeking a theological route in the military. Additionally, they are granted instant employment as a Navy chaplain once ordained. Additionally, in the United States military, chaplains must be endorsed by their religious affiliation in order to serve in any facet of the military. In some cases, like that of the U.S. Navy, a Religious Program Specialist may be appointed to help alleviate some of the duties bestowed upon Naval chaplains.
  Military chaplains are normally accorded officer status, although Sierra Leone had a Naval Lance Corporal chaplain in 2001. In most navies, their badges and insignia do not differentiate their levels of responsibility and status. By contrast, in air forces and armies, they typically carry ranks and are differentiated by crosses or other equivalent religious insignia. However, United States military chaplains in every branch carry both rank and Chaplain Corps insignia.
  Though the Geneva Conventions does not state whether chaplains may bear arms, they specify (Protocol I, June 8, 1977, Art 43.2) that chaplains are non-combatants. In recent times both the UK and US have required chaplains, but not medical personnel, to be unarmed.  Other nations, notably Norway, Denmark and Sweden, make it an issue of individual conscience.  Captured chaplains are not considered Prisoners of War (Third Convention, August 12, 1949, Chapter IV Art 33) and must be returned to their home nation unless retained to minister to prisoners of war.
  Inevitably, a significant number of serving chaplains have died in action. 100 chaplains of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps were killed in action during World War II: a casualty rate greater "than any other branch of the services except the infantry and the Army Air Corps" (Crosby, 1994, pxxiii). Many have been decorated for bravery in action (five have won Britain's highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross). The Chaplain's Medal for Heroism is a special U.S. military decoration given to military chaplains who have been killed in the line of duty, although it has to date only been awarded to the famous Four Chaplains, all of whom died in the Dorchester sinking in 1943 after giving up their lifejackets to others. In addition to these, five other U.S. chaplains have been awarded the Medal of Honor: Chaplain (LCDR) Joseph T. O'Callahan, USN (World War II); Chaplain (CPT) Emil Kapaun, USA (Posthumous, Korean War); Chaplain (LT) Vinc
caption: A Catholic chaplain ministers to American Marines and Sailors in Tikrit, Iraq
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