Photo By Master Sgt. Chris W. Cox | Chaplan Ronald O'Dell baptizes a Marine from Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines...... read more read more
Subscribe
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Imagine having thousands of brothers and sisters. Imagine how worried you'd be about whether they're comfortable, safe or taking care of themselves.
Then imagine you could do something for each and every one of them.
Military chaplains do that.
"I served in the Marine Corps myself for about four years from '93 to '97," said Lt. Ronald O'Dell, chaplain for 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, currently deployed here. "I had a lot of opportunities to help guys with spiritual problems and it became something I really enjoyed."
Between his days as a young enlisted Marine and wearing a Navy lieutenant's rank as he does now, the man who calls Ware Shoals, S.C., his home had several opportunities that could have given him a completely different life. He got out and began preparing himself for his own ministry through local church involvement while he was working as a South Carolina state counselor.
Before long, he was working as a full-time minister, even before he went to seminary school. With a pretty clear direction in life to follow, for the dark haired and easy going O'Dell there was still something missing in the career path puzzle.
That last piece was fit in by one of his seminary professors who was also a good friend. He spoke to his student about the life and responsibilities of military chaplains.
"One stark difference is you live and travel with your parishioners," O'Dell explained.
"The reason it appealed to me is you get to see what they see, do what they do and experience what they experience. You gain their respect and trust because of the sacrifice you're making with them."
The opportunity fit his personality and desires like a glove.
O'Dell went on to earn a commission in the Navy Chaplain Corps. He was offered the rank of lieutenant junior grade because of his experience and professional training. So with new, silver bars on his collar, he made his way to his first duty station as an officer, the Naval Consolidated Brig at Naval Weapons Station Charleston, S.C. From there, he transferred back into Marine green in May 2007, joining 1/5 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.
"We went with the 11th [Marine Expeditionary Unit]," he said about his first deployment with his new Marines. "After that I was fortunate enough to stay on and deploy to Afghanistan."
Where he is today.
Like most deployed service members, O'Dell has family back home. The difference between his family and most others is that O'Dell's wife, Amy, is as important to his professional responsibilities as him physically being with his Marines. Not only is she active with the Family Readiness Team, she also works closely with local churches and veterans organizations to try and maintain family strength, motivation and a sense of community while the Marines are away.
"We just recently had a lot of births in our battalion," explained O'Dell. "One of the churches offered to have a baby shower. She coordinated that."
She coordinates events to bring families together, but Amy also keeps track of noteworthy events, like actual births, and makes sure O'Dell is informed about important family information.
"She's good at keeping abreast of things," O'Dell said. "I'm a chaplain for 1,200 Marines.
Sometimes it's hard for me to keep up with things."
After 18 years of marriage, the O'Dells have children and care about each other as much as they ever did. Only now, they also function together as a professional team that intimately understands every aspect of the service they provide.
"What I enjoy most about working with my husband is the fact that we can empathize with the families we serve," Amy said from her home in California. "We know what it's like to stand on a parade deck and wave goodbye or stand on a dock and wait until the ship becomes a tiny speck before leaving. You feel the same heartaches and joys as the men and women you serve."
Caring for anything enough to dedicate your life to it is a calling few humans have the courage to undertake. To make a decision to serve those who serve their country in the most demanding conditions around the globe adds yet another dimension to a life of sacrifice. Nevertheless, there are a few perks to the job.
"It's gratifying to have guys come up to me and ask, 'When are you doing another service?'" O'Dell remarked. "It's good to know the guys are not only interested in the service, but also to be a part of a service you are leading.
"To me it demonstrates they have a connection with their chaplain," he continued.
From the outside looking at the unit, it is unmistakable that O'Dell feels a connection with the men of his battalion.
"There's nothing else I'd rather be doing," he said. "Although it is laborious, it's much more satisfying than it is laborious. I feel like I'm contributing to something that will have a lasting effect."
More than contributing to the unit's overall effectiveness, which every chaplain does, O'Dell feels like his accomplishment is far more personal for each of his Marines.
"If they're not spiritually ready, it definitely impacts their performance," he said before the beginning of Operation Khanjar here earlier this month. "Our Marines are spiritually equipped.
"They're brave, courageous men who give themselves sacrificially for the cause of freedom and the love of their country," O'Dell said of his Marines.
Military chaplains care about their Marines. They take action to ensure their charges and their families are as comfortable as possible in an uncomfortable situation. But the O'Dell's are different. They've been through what their Marines are going through as one of them.
They're more than the battalion chaplain and his wife. They're also a Marine family whose job description happens to include, "Ensure your brothers and their families are cared for."
1/5 is part of Regimental Combat Team 3 whose primary focus remains conducting counter-insurgency operations in southern Afghanistan alongside Afghan national security forces in order to allow the legitimate government to provide a secure environment for the people living here.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2009 09:20 |
| Story ID: | 36349 |
| Location: | HELMAND PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 857 |
| Downloads: | 803 |
This work, Expeditionary chaplain maintains battalion's spiritual readiness, by MSgt Chris W. Cox, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
