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FORT McCOY, Wis. - Soldiers from battalions across the 1st Brigade Combat Team had the opportunity to increase their spiritual resiliency June 10, during the Commander’s Prayer Breakfast at McCoy’s Restaurant on Fort McCoy, Wis.
The event’s keynote speaker was Brig. Gen. Patrick Dolan, chaplain, a native of Clementsville, Kent., who serves as the National Guard Assistant to the Chief of Chaplains.
Dolan assists the Chief of Army Chaplains with strategic issues and responsibilities, such as deployments and how those factors impact National Guard members.
When Dolan is not serving as a soldier he serves with two Catholic parishes as a pastor back home in Kentucky.
After speaking at the Commander’s breakfast, 1st BCT Commander Col. Eric Kerska presented Dolan with a miniature flag of the Brigade’s colors as a gesture of gratitude for visiting the 1st BCT.
Dolan then joined 1st BCT Maj. Buddy Winn, chaplain, for a tour of the 1st BCT’s training activities on Fort McCoy as well as a meet and greet with soldiers from the 1-94 Cavalry and the 1-125’s Charlie Battery.
One of the purposes for Dolan’s visit was to offer positive reinforcement to the soldiers he met.
“Soldiers need to know what they do is important and it matters in the big picture, someone with Dolan’s experience and position can bring a timely word of encouragement,” Winn said.
Along with encouragement chaplains also serve as problem solvers, though it is often the soldier that figures it out themselves.
Dolan said, “When people talk to someone else, especially if they’ve got problems of any kind, they’re not asking the other person to solve their problems, they’re often solving their own problems, but they need someone to listen to them empathetically to be able to do that.”
Dolan closed out his busy day at McCoy’s Catholic chapel, where he offered confession and presided over mass.
Sgt. Erin Cochran, a Human Resource specialist and native of Forest Lake, Minn., noted Dolan’s transition from soldier to priest was almost seamless.
“I went to confession before mass and it didn’t feel like I was talking to a one star General, he was a priest to me,” Cochran said.
Hopefully Dolan’s visit will serve the 1st BCT well, as they prepare to deploy to Kuwait later this summer for a year.
| Date Taken: | 06.10.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.14.2011 19:09 |
| Story ID: | 72086 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, One-Star chaplain visits the 1st BCT, by SSG Bob Brown, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
