On this date in 1636, the first militia regiments in North America were organized in Massachusetts. Based upon an order of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's General Court, the colony's militia was organized into three permanent regiments to better defend the colony. December 13, 1636, thus marks the beginning of the organized militia, and the birth of the National Guard's oldest organized units is symbolic of the founding of all the state, territory, and District of Columbia militias that collectively make up today's National Guard.

Integral to our National Guard units and structures are the Religious Ministry Teams which are on call to respond at a moment's notice. As one example, following the devastating impact of hurricanes on the U.S. Virgin Islands, the TN National Guard sent a religious support team to St. Croix. "I got a call asking if I could deploy within 36 hours," he recalled. "I went home, told my family goodbye, threw my gear in a bag and hit the road again. That's what we do as Guardsmen." 

"The religious support team mission was to provide unit engagement through advice to leaders, workplace engagement, spiritual counseling, traumatic event managements and worship opportunities," said Chaplain (Major) Mark Smith. The team provided support to the more than 1,400 personnel from 30 states and territories, across all branches of the military in the area.

In addition to spiritual counseling and traumatic management briefings, the team also assisted with three Red Cross notifications and conducted two funerals.

"It was a rare and humbling opportunity to work in a true joint task force with representations from all branches of military service," said Smith. "I knew my background in fire and emergency medical services as well as training in critical incident stress management were valuable skills in the wake of such a large scale disaster. I wanted to serve, so I volunteered."

While Smith was in the Virgin Islands, another Guard chaplain was mobilized and deployed in a support capacity.  Maj. Peter Drury, a chaplain assigned to the 180FW, was deployed to the National Guard Bureau's Office of the Chaplains in Washington, D.C. "Each group that responds has different capabilities and it is important for the command staff to know what capabilities are at their disposal" said Drury as he explained the needs for so many different capabilities in response to national disasters. 

While assigned to the National Guard Communication Center's Adaptive Battle Staff, Drury assisted the Joint Office of the Chaplains, communicating, coordinating and collaborating with partners across various states and territories to establish effective pastoral support, to include North American Aerospace Defense Command, Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Army North, Air Forces Northern command, and various other National Guard offices.

"A chaplain in the U.S. Virgin Islands called me to request support as he was the only chaplain for three different islands," said Drury. "I was the second call he made, the first was to his wife."

"One of the most important things a chaplain can do is to provide calm in chaos," he continued.

"The impact that providing support and care can have is amazing," said Drury. "There has been an overwhelming appreciation of the support provided."

As the Guard celebrates it's birthday, thousands of our citizen soldiers remain mobilized and in support of our nation's needs. At the beginning of the month, nearly 3,000 remained actively supporting recovery efforts in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and now over 1,000 have joined the battle against the ferocious wildfires in California. 

Happy Birthday National Guard and our thanks to the Religious Ministry Team professionals who provide support whenever the call is relayed. 

Lyman Smith

Executive Director

In our last issue of the Military Chaplain magazine we let all know the Association of Professional Chaplains has approved the Military Chaplaincy Specialty as part of their chaplain certification program. The process of implementing this new specialty continues with a target date of March 1, 2018 for the first applications to be received. 

The MCA is pleased to announce a scholarship will be awarded in the coming year to a deserving candidate for the military chaplaincy in memory of Samuel Stocks. Sam was the husband of MCA President Karen Stocks and a great friend of the MCA. He passed away suddenly on Thanksgiving. (see the November 29th Newsgram). 

Donations may be sent to MCA via our website or by mail. Please mark them in memory of Sam Stocks. 

Many Americans fear prayer is dead in the nation's halls of power, that God is no longer welcome in these halls, but Black says take heart.

"The idea that simply because people are involved in government they do not have a connection with the transcendent I think is a faulty one. Certainly, there are morally, spiritually and ethically fit senators and staffers on Capitol Hill and they believe in prayer, they fast and pray. There are some lawmakers who once were interested in pursuing the ministry. There are lawmakers with divinity school degrees who are ordained preachers and there are lawmakers whose spirituality dwarfs my own," he said.

For Black, it's a privilege to serve God and country. He's served 14 years as Senate chaplain and 27 in the Navy where he rose to the rank of Rear Admiral.