Photo By Staff Sgt. Brian Calhoun | U.S. Army Chaplain, 1st Lt. Richard Brown, leads a Sunday religious service to a group...... read more read more
JORDAN - U.S. Army chaplains play an important role in Soldier care and their duties extend outside of providing religious services and a prayer during official ceremonies. In some cases, those extra duties may take them to exciting locations such as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Members of the South Carolina Army National Guard, U.S. Army 1st Lt., Richard Brown, 122nd Engineer Battalion chaplain, and U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua Powell, 4th Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company chaplain assistant, both accepted invitations to participate in the exercise Eager Lion 16 that took place in Jordan May 15-24, 2016.
Chaplain Brown explained typical duties for an Army chaplain can range from providing religious support and counseling for Soldiers and their families to conducting chapel services during unit training. Powell added they also ensure that all Soldier’s religious needs are met and he provides assistance to the chaplain for these duties. While Brown and Powell provided these services during Eager Lion, their roles did not stop there. They also worked hand-in-hand with their Jordanian Armed Forces counterparts as a means to build relationships between the U.S. and Jordan.
“If you told me four years ago that I’d be in Jordan at some point, I’d say you were crazy…this is such an honor for me,” said Brown. “It’s was an opportunity of a lifetime…It was an opportunity to work jointly both with other components, as well as combined with another country.”
Brown and Powell worked with Imam Hussaien Mufleh Al-jbour and his assistant 2nd Lt. Emad Al-jbour. As part of Eager Lion, the group worked as members of the Higher Control (HICON) staff, which provided section-specific scenarios to other military units participating in the exercise that were reacting to the circumstances as they would in a real-world situation. Some of the religious specific scenarios included responding to a mass casualty and determine if adequate religious support was available and to conduct a religious needs assessment within the exercise, explained Brown.
While working with his counterpart, Brown also had the opportunity to visit the Prince Hassan Military College for Islamic Sciences, where the Jordanian Armed Forces imams are trained in their religious studies.
“The U.S. chaplains visited [the college] to share ideas…it was a relationship building trip,” said Brown. “I got to hear different perspectives and see how they’re trained. It provided a framework to work together in the future.”
Brown has a passion for his service both to the Army National Guard, which led to his involvement in Eager Lion, as well as a higher being.
“I love Soldiers and I love God,” added Brown.
In addition to the exercise participation, Brown and Powell conducted some traditional chaplain duties, such as the Sunday worship service and monitored the morale and welfare of the service members participating in Eager Lion, but no matter what role they are fulfilling, they have one overall goal.
“We take care of Soldiers,” stated Powell.
Eager Lion is an annual, bilateral, scenario-based exercise with the Jordanian Armed Forces, designed to exchange military expertise and improve interoperability among partner nations.
| Date Taken: | 06.29.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.29.2016 11:02 |
| Story ID: | 202721 |
| Location: | JO |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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