Chaplain candidates inspired by tour of JBSA-Lackland

by Tech Sgt. Carlos J. Trevino
433 AW Public Affairs

7/28/2014 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Eighteen Air Force chaplain candidates visited the Gateway to the Air Force here to learn how Airmen begin their military careers. The stop was one of five on the candidates' tour of Air Force installations. 

The Air Force Chaplain Candidate Program allows seminary and other professional religious school students to evaluate their compatibility and potential for commissioning as an Air Force Chaplain.

The focus is on experiencing ministry in the Air Force during a summer tour of active duty. Upon entering the program, individuals are commissioned as a chaplain candidate, in the grade of Second Lieutenant. After graduation and obtaining an ecclesiastical endorsement, candidates are then eligible for reappointment as a chaplain in either, the U.S. Air Force Reserve, the Air National Guard or placed on active duty.

During their stop here, the candidates visited the basic trainees during their sixth week of Basic Military Training, as they marched to the "BEAST," the Basic Expeditionary Airman Skills Training area designed to simulate a combat deployment site.

The cadets had lunch with trainees in a hardened shelter and got a sense of what trainees experience as they dined on Meal Ready to Eat field rations for the first time.

Another highlight of the JBSA-Lackland tour was seeing the largest plane in the Air Force, the C-5A Galaxy at the 433rd Airlift Wing.

"The good thing with this program is that they can see the Air Force, learn the Air Force, and learn about the chaplain corps," said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Charles Towery, officer in charge of the Chaplain Intensive Candidate Internship. "For many of them, their first time being exposed to the military was at Commissioned Officer Training in May," he said.

Candidates first go to an Air Force chaplain course at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, before beginning their tour of Air Force bases. During the tour, "They will be checking out the Air Force. This is a look-and-see. They are also being looked at to see if they are suitable for the chaplain corps," Towery said.

"I am basically the tour guide here for San Antonio, said Chaplain (Maj.) Jesse Howard, 433rd AW. " I make sure everything is done right, so that when we get to each location everything is good to go. It's good that they will get some hands-on with the C-5 after seeing Basic Military Training.

"This tour also helps me network with fellow Air Force clergy, because in a few years I will see them somewhere down the road. It is kind of neat to see where they go from here," Howard said.

Some of the chaplain candidates are prior Air Force enlisted. This time, their perspective is different, according to 1st Lt. Mara Title, a prior service member who was an Air Force broadcaster in the public affairs' career field.

"I've never had training quite like this. "By visiting different bases and seeing the different missions and getting to talk to so many different Airmen, this tour has opened up our eyes to several different areas of the Air Force," Title said.

"This trip has shown me that I will have an impact on people, and that I can keep going forward to see what God has for me."