Jordanian chaplains visit for partnership, cultural understanding

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

(7/29/10) - When Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley was in Jordan last October furthering the National Guard's State Partnership Program, he was offered an intriguing proposal.

An exchange was proposed that would involve chaplains and imams between Jordan and its National Guard SPP partner since 2004, Colorado. The purpose was to improve their mutual understanding of religious diversity.

The idea bore fruit earlier this month when Colorado and National Guard Bureau chaplains hosted Jordanian military religious leaders here in Washington and in Colorado.

Among them was Brig. Gen. (Chaplain) Talal Mohammad Ali Rabab'h, head of the Islamic law department at Prince Hassan College for Islamic Disciplines onthe military campus of Mu'tah University in Karak, Jordan.

"My role is to teach Islamic values and application to our military personnel to ensure they are being good Muslims and good Soldiers," Ali Rabab'h said, speaking through a Guard Bureau translator. "The role of the Muslim chaplains within the military is to perform daily and routine religious rituals inside the unit and when the need arises, to participate in burial ceremonies, to strengthen Soldiers' ethics, to strengthen military discipline ... and tot each them to protect the civilians."

The State Partnership Program started in 1993, following the collapse of the Iron Curtain. State partnerships foster military-to-military, military-to-civilian and civilian-to-civilian cooperation. There are currently 62 SPP partners.

"They are a marvelous tool for building partnership capacity," McKinley, who is the chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in Amman during his visit to Jordan. "We live in a very multi-polar world in which all countries' values,feelings and cultures should be understood, and it is probably the best program ... for the money in helping the foreign nations who participate ...to gain an understanding of how our military works, the fundamentals of our leadership and our noncommissioned officer corps, which is vital.

"It builds on our State Department and Department of Defense guidelines fortheater-security cooperation through the combatant commanders."

The visit from Jordanian military religious leaders was a typical example ofhow the SPP can advance international understanding.

"This exchange showed the importance our countries assign to the partnership between the U.S. and Jordan," Ali Rabab'h said, "and how we both feel that we can learn from each other and support each other. ... This exchange is the fruition of the trust that has been building between Jordan and Colorado.

"One of the most important lessons that we learned here is the openness ofthe U.S. Army to other cultures and faiths and that this Army strives for excellence and likes to learn from others, and this is something that we very much admire and respect."

The exchange included office calls with National Guard leaders, visits to landmarks, such as the National Cathedral.

"I have been impressed with the role that the National Guard has on the state and the federal level," Ali Rabab'h said. "I have also been very impressed with the role of the Guard within their own communities and the diversity of the community and the chaplains. I was happy to hear about the chaplains within the military - whether they are Muslims, Christian or Jewish.

"I hope that we have such exchanges more often, because this ... shows thatt he U.S. military is interested in learning about the true Islam and Muslims and understands that fundamentalism and terrorism is not a true representation of Islam.

"The prophet said that hearts are touched by kindness, Ali Rabab'h said adding that his heart was touched by his hosts.