BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Staff Sgt. Anthony Camper, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing chaplain assistant, spends his deployment supporting Airmen by acting as a mentor and providing counseling to BAF Airmen ensuring units maintain morale and remain spiritually and mentally fit to complete the mission.
Not only does Camper support Airmen here at Bagram, but also on all of the surrounding forward operating bases in the theater. As part of the chapel staff responsibilities, Camper and his team travel throughout the month to provide chaplain support to Airmen.
“I visit all the shops throughout the base here and around the AOR; I do counseling, crisis and prevention and more,” Camper said. “We’re basically the eyes and ears of the enlisted corps, sometimes Airmen feel more comfortable talking to us rather than an officer. So, that’s when the chaplain assistant comes in to help. I enjoy working with Airmen and getting to experience everyone’s work section and boosting the morale.”
Camper is part of the ‘1000s of Hands’ of 455 AEW Airmen who are crucial to the wing’s mission to generate and sustain airpower on the combat frontier of Afghanistan’s NATO’s Resolute Support mission and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. The ‘1000s of Hands’ project highlights Vulture Airmen who have a hand in delivering a blanket of steel, technology and courage to protect the force in the field and support Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.