Date

7-22-2025

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Chair

Scott D. Edgar

Keywords

alignment, collaboration, control, exhaustion, resilience, self-compassion, self-care, therapy

Disciplines

Christianity | Counseling

Abstract

The U.S. Army Chaplain Corps is a unique group of Soldiers who have been called to serve as professional military religious leaders in a military context, nurturing the living, caring for the wounded, and honoring the fallen. In meeting those objectives in the military, some Chaplains find themselves reaching a level of exhaustion that could have long-term damage to their spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical well-being. At the battalion level, Captain (O-3) Chaplains are the Religious Leaders who will face the brunt of the stress, as they are the first to respond to boots-on-ground ministry at the tactical level. On Joint Base Fort Sam Houston, a group of Captain (O-3) Chaplains possess extensive experience and must establish proper self-care plans to combat exhaustion.

There is a space for conversation, an action research project, and interviews that must take place to gauge if there is a need for viable self-care plans to be mandated by the Army Command policy. The U.S. Army Chaplain Corps on JBSA-FSH implemented and distributed diverse self-care plans for Captain (O-3) Chaplains, thereby enriching their spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical well-being. Additionally, after updating the Army Command Policy, there will be a need to revise the Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) doctrine to align with the mandate of the Army Command Policy, as the Uniformed Code of Military Justice supports it. For Captain (O-3) Chaplains to be mandated to conduct self-care, Army Regulation 165-1 and Field Manual 4-05 will also need an update.

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