Command hosts chaplain candidacy program

by Capt. Kristin Mack
Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs

7/24/2014 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Eighteen chaplain candidates took part in phase 2 of the Total Force Air Force Chaplain Candidate Program here July 12-18.

The Office of the Command Chaplain at Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command sponsored the tour.

The two-part program helps educate and provide an environment to evaluate their compatibility and potential for commissioning as an Air Force chaplain.

"Our job is to militarily qualify the candidates," said Chaplain (Maj.) Jonathan Wade, Total Force Chaplain Candidate manager. "Our program gives them a high-altitude view of what chaplains do, and the tactical training they will need when they re-appoint as fully qualified chaplains."

The participants are second lieutenants. They have ecclesiastical approval to serve as a chaplain candidate; a document from their denomination showing they are in good standing and confirmation for a specific type of ministry in the Air Force Reserve.

In phase 1, they complete a 33-day officer commissioning course at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, followed by a 12-day chaplain candidate course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

"The course at Fort Jackson was in a great setting," said chaplain candidate 2nd Lt. Mara Title. "We got to work with seasoned chaplains and chaplain assistants in an environment where we could make mistakes."

Phase 2 of the program gives seminary and other professional religious school students a 35-day, on-the-job training experience under the direct supervision of an active-duty chaplain and chaplain assistant, and the opportunity to put phase 1 training and faith dedication into action.

During phase 2, the candidates experience a broad view of the chaplain corps operations, where they visit five bases representing multiple major commands in the Air Force.

Robins was the first stop on the training tour and gave the candidates an opportunity to work with Guard, Reserve, active duty and joint force components. The other bases were Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas; JB Charleston, South Carolina; and Hurlburt Field and Patrick AFB in Flordia.

"This is where they get to witness the mission of the chaplain corps as it adjusts itself to various missions," Wade said.

Title entered the program after more than six years of active-duty Air Force service. She began investigating the program after realizing something spiritually was missing in her life.

"I felt God was changing my heart and felt like ministering to the military," she said.

In following her calling, she attended Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where she earned a masters of arts degree in teaching.

The chaplain candidate program is an ideal fit for Title because she enjoys ministering to people in the military.

"I started a veteran's group - the Officers' Christian Fellowship - at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, in an effort to defy a certain temperament of passivism," she said.

Wade said about 65 percent of the candidates re-appoint to the military after completing the program.

Candidates first re-appoint to the Air Force Reserve due to a two-year post-master's degree and full-time ministerial experience requirement to appoint to active duty.

"On average, Reserve chaplains will spend approximately two-and-a-half to three years in the Reserve prior to applying for and being selected to active duty. Typically, 10 percent re-appoint to the National Guard. Thus, 90 percent of reappointing candidates enter the Air Force Reserve," Wade said.

"It's a come-and-see program," said Wade. "The chaplain candidate program exists to draw seminarians from over 80 religions who feel called to this program, and come and see if it is a good fit for them."