Drawdown brings close to combat chaplain operations

Published March 27, 2010
By Airman 1st Class Allison M. Boehm
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- The 732nd Air Expeditionary Group chaplain team recently completed their last mission, a trip that not only provided spiritual care for Joint Expeditionary Tasking Airmen but also an end to an era.

The traveling combat chaplain team of Chaplain (Capt.) Steve Fisher, 732nd AEG and Staff Sgt. Dewey Landers, 732nd AEG chaplain assistant, was responsible for providing combat ministry support to JET Airmen assigned to forward operating bases in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

However, due to the current operations tempo, paired along with the responsible drawdown, the religious support team is no longer needed due to the fact that they have ensured that Air Force or Army religious support teams are currently assigned responsibility for each FOB and are readily available for JET Airmen.

"The 732nd religious support team gave JET Airmen an Air Force chaplain to identify with while at the same time giving 732nd commanders a direct connection to caring for the spiritual, ethical, moral, morale and religious accommodation needs of those Airmen," said Chaplain Fisher. "Although I have thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to serve our JET Airmen in Operation Iraqi Freedom, as OIF begins to drawdown and Operation New Dawn approaches, I believe the time is right to discontinue this position."

In the three months the two-man team was here, they managed to visit 23 forward operating bases across Iraq, ranging from as far north as Mosul to as far south as Talill, helping many Airmen with spiritual support.

"Along the way, our ministry has provided direct and indirect support to more than 1,300 JET Airmen as we sought to enhance the spiritual wellbeing and morale of the Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines we were privileged to meet," said Chaplain Fisher. "With more than 600 contact hours and more than 100 counseling opportunities, we provided support for religious accommodation requests, combat stress, struggling families, suicide interventions, and offered critical advice to leadership on work-center related issues."

Senior Airman Jesse Scego, a driver for the 732nd AEG Security Forces Squadron appreciated that the chaplain team took the time to meet with his unit and inform them of the upcoming change.

"Our job asks a great deal of us," he said. "We're out here serving our nation and making sacrifices for the cause of a greater good. With the stress that comes from that, being spiritually fit and having the support from a chaplain is vital to accomplish our mission and effect change. It meant alot that he took the trip here not only to pray for us, but to inform us that his position was no more and guide us to right direction for further spiritual care."

Discontinuing the positions allows for the redistribution of manpower and equipment and will save at least $15,000, Chaplain Fisher said.