Courtesy Photo | (Photo courtesy JBSA SRU) JBSA and Fort Cavazos SRUs executed a joint spiritual...... read more read more
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FALLS CHURCH Va.- A wounded, ill, or injured Soldier recovering in a Soldier Recovery Unit has a comprehensive plan with six pillars to help them succeed. One of those pillars is spiritual. The other pillars of the Army Recovery Care Program include career, physical, social, family, and emotional. Chaplain Joseph Hatcher of the Joint Base San Antonio SRU says spirituality is equally important as the others for one simple reason. “We were not meant to be alone; we need each other,” said Hatcher, an Army chaplain for the last six years.
The good chaplain explains that spirituality as part of the comprehensive plan for Soldiers in recovery is supported more than most Soldiers would think. “I think the huge resource that is FM 7–22, which is the holistic health and fitness manual, is one of those domains of strength, and it overlaps perfectly with ARCP, and it talks about those different domains, so it gives us a great tool on how to address spiritual fitness and gives the parameters to talk about it.”
Hatcher does more than talk about it. He partners with other SRUs and even other Services to bring each other together and find that common bond he calls the light out of the darkness. “We need to be connected with people and the environment. Healing and recovery happen in the community, not in isolation,” said Hatcher.
Army Master Sgt. Aaron Frederick knows all too well that recovery requires help from others. The Infantry Senior Sergeant suffered from multiple broken bones after a parachuting accident while training in Louisiana last year. After surgery to repair his pelvis, he said his wife was his lifeline. “After I got home from the rehab center, I couldn't get out of bed on my own. I wasn't walking, and I had to get out of my bed and into my wheelchair to go to the bathroom. She had to help me do everything,” said Frederick, who soon after moved with his wife and two children to San Antonio so he could recover at the Soldier Recovery Unit there.
An adventure last fall brought the SRUs from JBSA and Fort Cavazos together, this one with a bonus. “We also included spouses. If there's an event that we could open up to spouses to participate in, we do. They got to be part of this spiritual fitness journey, too,” said Hatcher, who coordinated a trip to the caverns in San Antonio.
Fredrick and his wife took advantage of this healing opportunity and found the beauty beyond nature's caverns. “It's a little therapeutic being able to get out and watch some of these Soldiers who have gone through way more than me. I like watching them engage in some of these activities. Being more of a senior NCO, knowing I've been taking care of Soldiers for many years and now seeing the SRU take care of them and me is pretty humbling. We do need each other,” said Frederick.
It's these kinds of a-ha moments that Hatcher wants Soldiers to realize as they go through recovery and life. No one can do it alone. “I ask how helpful it was to go through it with people, how panic-inducing it would be if you were by yourself versus with someone else, how you needed people from different vantage points to help guide you through, or you had the right, to take a break, raise yourself to a higher point, and look down on your situation?”
Hatcher tells every Soldier in the SRU not to discount that spiritual pillar. “This is what life can be like, and this is what your recovery can be like, but it's entirely up to you. If you want help, help is here for you, but… if you want to struggle, that choice is yours. Just know that help is available whenever you want to change your mind. Let’s work on that spiritual fitness.”
| Date Taken: | 02.19.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.19.2025 09:56 |
| Story ID: | 491010 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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