Convincing a young soldier to call his mother even though he said he was “too ashamed” after his hand was destroyed by explosive ammo...
Providing ministry to a troubled airman on the back wing of a military aircraft...
Listening to a wounded marine who is more worried about returning to his men...
It’s all in a day’s work for Caleb Clark and his role as a military chaplain. In the midst of uncertainty, war and chaos, he provides spiritual care and guidance to those who are expected to be “fit to fight.”
“As a Christian, you want what’s best for everyone,” Clark said. “As a chaplain, I have to make sure the good guys are in good fighting condition to take on the bad guys. One of our goals to is to make sure our people are fit to fight.”
Clark, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, currently serves on active duty in the United States Air Force, particularly the National Guard. It’s a role he was approached with five years ago by Sam Smith, the former pastor of First Presbyterian Church and fellow military chaplain.
Clark was serving as a hospice chaplain at the time. And he admits he wasn’t in the best military shape.
“I was about 60 pounds over weight,” he said with a smile, “I couldn’t do two consecutive push-ups, and I got a little winded getting my mail out of the box. I had to drop 60-pounds, which is a novel thing for a Baptist preacher.”
Clark began the process in July of 2011. It was the beginning of another chapter in his life, and one that took some adjustment.
“It’s a minister in a military context,” Clark said. “Every chaplain is a minister. However, every minister can’t be a chaplain.”
It was a different setting with unique circumstances. This was the military and all that comes with it.
“Sometimes a good chaplain knows when to walk away,” Clark said. “But sometimes a good chaplain knows when you turn yourself into the situation.”
It is Clark’s responsibility to advise commanders on the spiritual condition of the troops.
“In deployed settings, it is vitally important that they are coherent and cogent of their spiritual condition,” Clark said. “If you have a strong spiritual, then everything else kind of falls into place. We make sure we have our finger on the pulse of where people are.”
While in officer school, Clark said it was explained to him in pretty blunt terms of what to expect as a military chaplain.
“The commanding instructor told us the job of the military is to break stuff and hurt people,” Clark said. “He looks over at me and says “chaplain, you don’t break stuff or hurt people. You make sure the ones who break stuff and hurt people are fit to fight. Don’t ever forget that what we do is a terrible thing, but we need people to be very good at doing terrible things so that the terrible things don’t happen to good people.’”
Clark said military chaplains are “the visible reminder of the holy.”
While walking through a large hangar, one airman told Clark that he needed to show him something on the massive aircraft.
“We go up about the equivalent of five stories, and he opens a top hatch,” Clark said. “We sit out on a wing, five and half stories up in the air. He says, ‘what do you think about the view chaplain? Well, I’m glad you are up here because I need to talk to you.’”
The two then began a 45-minute discussion about marital issues.
“I can say that I have never been on an rear air wing in civilian ministry,” Clark said. “Sometimes you do what you have got to do to provide and provide for.”
As a Southern Baptist, Clark is able to provide a number of spiritual services, including baptisms.
“We have taken a front end loader, filled with water and dunk somebody,” he said. “We have dug trenches and put plastic liners in it for full immersion baptism.”
And he is able to listen to anything, literally.
“As long as I am wearing this uniform, and I’m talking to a military person or their dependent, I have 100 percent confidentiality,” he said. “Whatever a warrior shares with a chaplain, it is 100 percent closed. That is a lot of burden to carry sometimes.”
For many, all it takes is getting things off their chest.
“I can help that individual walk through whatever trial and struggle they are in,” Clark said.
And he has had those moments.
Clark’s first moments as a chaplain came on an aircraft that was almost like a hospital in the air on it sway to military hospital in German. With at least 60 wounded warrior onboard, many times the first person they come in contact with at the hospital is a chaplain.
One was a 19-year-old man from Texas. He was in the Army, and he was sitting shell-shocked on his cot.
“I went to him, and said ‘hey soldier, what are you doing on my plane,’” Clark said. “He told me that he hurt his hand. He was firing a .50 (caliber gun), taking out a couple of insurgents when one of the shells came out hot and landed in an ammo box. He lost three of his fingers.”
But the young soldier was too embarrassed to call his parents.
“He said, ‘my parents are going to be so ashamed. My whole life has been to get over here and fight,’” Clark said. “I had to get him to a place over the next eight-hour plane ride to help him at least call his mother.”
And then there was the 22-year-old Marine who Clark found with a large scar on his forehead and left cheek with a large gauze on his left eye.
“He told me that he got shot when he took a sniper round to the head,” Clark said. “He had turned just in time when the sniper who was going to shoot him clear thru...the shot actually went through his left eye and exited out his left temple.”
And the marine’s response when Clark asked what he did?
“He said, “I’m a Marine,” Clark said. “I got up and walked to the medic. Now, can you get me back to my men?’”
