Chaplain Corps (United States Army)

The Chaplain Corps of the United States Army consists of ordained clergy who are commissioned Army officers as well as enlisted soldiers who serve as assistants. Their purpose is to offer religious services, counseling, and moral support to the armed forces, whether in peacetime or at war.

Army Chaplain Center and School

 * See footnotes

The U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School (USACHCS) is part of the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center (AFCC), which also includes the Air Force Chaplain Service Institute (AFCSI) and the U.S. Naval Chaplaincy School and Center (NCSC). The three schools are co-located at Fort Jackson, in Columbia, S.C.

In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission decided to put all military ministry training at the same location.

The purpose of the AFCC is to have closer cooperation among the three chaplain corps and to share instruction and training.

The U.S. Army Chaplain School was approved on 9 February 1918. Its first session began on 3 March 1918, at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Chaplain (MAJ) Aldred A. Pruden, who developed the plan for the school, was named the first commandant of the school. It subsequently moved to Camp Zachary Taylor (Kentucky), Camp Grant (Illinois), Fort Leavenworth (Kansas), Fort Benjamin Harrison (Indiana), Harvard University (Massachusetts), Fort Devens (Mass.), Fort Oglethorpe (Georgia), Carlisle Barracks (Pennsylvania), Fort Slocum (New York) (1951–62), Fort Hamilton (N.Y.) (1962–74), Fort Wadsworth (N.Y.) (1974–79), and Fort Monmouth (New Jersey) (1979–95).

Noncombatant status

 * See: Military chaplain

Specialty insignia

 * ''See: United States military chaplain symbols
 * For FAQs regarding uniforms and insignia, see footnote.

Chiefs of Army Chaplains
The Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army is the head of the Army Chaplaincy. The position was created to better organize the corps. The current Chief of Chaplains is Chaplain (Major General) Donald L. Rutherford who was sworn in on July 22, 2011.

Army bases chaplaincy

 * See footnotes
 * For a link to the chaplaincy at each of the bases listed below, see general footnote and the footnote following each base


 * Fort Benning
 * Fort Bragg
 * Fort Carson


 * Fort Drum
 * Fort Gordon
 * Fort Huachuca


 * Fort Knox
 * Fort Leavenworth
 * Fort Monroe


 * Fort Myer
 * Fort Polk
 * Fort Sill


 * Walter Reed Medical Center

Joint-base chaplaincy

 * Joint Base Lewis-McChord
 * Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

Chapels

 * For all six USMA chapels, see footnote

Chaplains

 * See footnote

Cadet Prayer

 * See footnote

Museum

 * See also: National Museum of the United States Army and Museum of Army Chaplaincy (U.K.)
 * For USA Civil War chaplains, see footnote.
 * For historic photographs of Army chaplains in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, see footnote.

The U.S. Army Chaplain Museum is located at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. It was established on 14 August 1957, at the then–United States Army Chaplain School at Fort Slocum, New York. It was dedicated on 10 February 1958, by Chaplain (MG) Patrick J. Ryan, Chief of Chaplains.

"The Four Chaplains"
When the troop-transport ship USAT Dorchester was torpedoed during World War II, four Army chaplains ministered to the soldiers and sailors on the sinking ship, gave up their life jackets, and sacrificed their lives when the ship sank. Those chaplains – known as "The Four Chaplains" – were Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist; Lt. Alexander D. Goode, Jewish; Lt. John P. Washington, Roman Catholic; and Lt. Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed.

Other notable chaplains

 * John G. Burkhalter – Chaplain during World War II and the Korean War.
 * John B. DeValles – Chaplain during World War I.
 * Francis P. Duffy – Chaplain during World War I, the most highly decorated cleric in the history of the U.S. Army.
 * John H. Eastwood - Chaplain during World War II
 * Herman G. Felhoelter – Chaplain during the Korean War. Killed in Chaplain–Medic massacre.
 * Dale Goetz – Chaplain during Afghanistan War. First U.S. Army chaplain to be killed in action since the Vietnam War.
 * Milton L. Haney – Chaplain during the Civil War. Called "The Fighting Chaplain" by the men of the 55th Illinois Infantry. Awarded the Medal of Honor
 * Philip Hannan – Chaplain during World War II.
 * Emil J. Kapaun – Chaplain during the Korean War. Died in a POW camp on 23 May 1951. In the process of Canonization and will be formally awarded posthumous Medal of Honor in April 2013
 * Charles Liteky – Chaplain during Vietnam War. Awarded the Medal of Honor.
 * John McElroy, SJ – One of two of the Army's first Catholic Chaplains. Chaplain during the Mexican-American War, founder of St. John's Literary Institute, Boston College High School, and Boston College.
 * Colman O'Flaherty – Chaplain during World War I. Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
 * Anthony Rey – One of two of the Army's first Catholic Chaplains. Chaplain during the Mexican-American War and Vice President of Georgetown College (1845).
 * John Rosbrugh – Chaplain during the Revolutionary War. First U.S. chaplain killed in battle.
 * H. Timothy Vakoc – Chaplain during Iraq War. The only U.S. military chaplain to die from wounds received in the Iraq War.
 * Charles J. Watters – Chaplain during the Vietnam War. Awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Hymn

 * See: Eternal Father, Strong to Save (including special verses for West Point cadets, U.S. armed forces, wounded in combat, and for those deployed)