By Graham Glover –

I recently returned from a 2-week field exercise with my Soldiers. Apart from being away from my family, sleeping in a 1-man pup tent, not showering, and eating more MREs than my digestive tract prefers – it was a phenomenal time of training with my new Battalion.

There are many things an Army chaplain can do to earn the trust and respect of his Soldiers, to include, above all, being a faithful man of God. But living with them in their training environment – enduring the “suck” that everyone experiences while in the field, is one of the best ways for a Soldier to realize that where they go, their chaplain goes – when they suffer, their chaplain does so as well.