What does it take to be a chaplain in the US military?

Question

I have a teenager that is considering this career option. We haven't spoken to a recruiter yet, but have been reading the webpages and such.

I understand that the chaplain is already ordained (meaning having gone to seminary) which is generally a master's degree position. How would that work, as far as going from high school to ROTC to seminary? Am I understanding it correctly that a person must complete their obligation to the military before going on to graduate school. So what would someone do in the military with BA in something geared toward seminary?

Thanks for the answers. We are still "information gathering" at this point.

Answer 1

can't be a Chaplain via ROTC.  you must get the Masters in Divinity on your own, and get permission from your church's governing body to apply for a commission.  

Answer 2

The love of God most importantly.

Answer 3

YOU can enlist as a chaplain's assistant in the military, work on your seminary degree, get ordained, then a commission in the Chaplain's Corps.

Answer 4

Check out the website for the ROTC programs for each military branch.  I pasted the reference from the Army site below.  ROTC is a good way to go.  they have full scholarships available that are merit based.  My son was recently commissioned as an Army 2nd LT.  The Army paid all his tuition and fees for 4 years, gave him $1,000 per year for books and paid him several hundred a month in tax free subsistence pay.  This is a much better educational benefit than going to college after the military on the GI bill.  If you son is interested, have him go check out the military science department at whatever university he wishes to attend, talk to the professor of military science and some of the cadets.  

Answer 5

http://www.chaplaincare.navy.mil/BecomeA...

The above website has some useful good information for you.  

Answer 6

Okay, without doing any research I will offer a general answer.  I would say that whatever credentials your son begins his life in the Armed Forces with is going to stand him in good stead.  A review of my past responses to similar questions will show you that I am a staunch believer in Education.  Even in the military the more you have the better you will do.  Can he go to a divinity school after completing four years of ROTC, well that's a question for a recruiter, perhaps even an officer in the recruiting chain of command as most enlisted recruiters will probably not be too receptive to an inquiry of this sort.  I would think that an already ordained clergyman of any denomination would have little trouble in entering the Chaplain's Corps.  I've known and dealt with many a padre, (generic use here, I've even known them to be called Sky Pilots back in the old days), and highly respect most of them.  Good luck to your son and please thank him for me for his intentions and thoughts.

Answer 7

Well for the chaplaincy a person doesn't have to go through the normal processes of ROTC or Academies, but they can get a "direct commission."  So a person would go to seminary and graduate, and I believe all branches pretty much require a period of civilian time working as a pastor before being accepted by the military (that might have changed), and then apply through the branch for a direct commission.  Chaplains are "endorsed" by a church, so that every chaplain is endorsed by the Southern Baptists, or Methodists or whomever and that endorsing agent can recall them at any time, although they don't do that.  So once they have graduated they will be a pastor in a particular church/denomination and would have to be endorsed by that denomination to become a military chaplain.  At any rate, if they are a teenager now, they don't really need to worry too much about it now, but just focus on school, stay in shape.  Their are two elements to being a chaplain.  One is administrative ability and the other is pastoral ability.  The worst chaplains focus too much on one or the other, the best function in both areas effectively.  A super good pastor is useless if he doesn't understand that he also works within a command structure, just as a super good administrative type is useless if all she can focus on is getting all the paperwork filled out and checking the boxes to get promoted.  A good chaplain knows how to balance the two and understands that the chaplaincy is less a career than it is a vocation and a ministry just like any other.  Also, while there is a need right now for chaplains with so much combat activity, it's not always that way, especially for Protestant chaplains, but there is always a stronger need for "baby baptizers" that is, the higher church Episcopalians and Lutheran type denominations.  Southern Baptists are a dime a dozen comparitively, no insult intended to anyone.