Fort Hood held a specialized, hostile environment training for their chaplains and chaplain assistants Thursday morning.
Chaplains are officers and chaplain assistants are enlisted soldiers in the U.S. Army.
They work in pairs as a Unit Ministry Team (UMT) and are assigned to each battalion level unit and above in the Army.
"We provide something that no one else in the Army can provide. We can touch the religious aspect or spiritual aspect of every soldier in the unit, and to be entrusted with that is a huge honor," MSG. Edrena Roberts,Command Chaplain Assistant, said.
Fort Hood trained the 110 soldiers, chaplains and chaplain assistants who are currently stationed at Fort Hood Thursday in a series of training exercises.
Each exercise was focused on the pairs moving as one to keep the chaplain safe.
"We have to be able to move that noncombatant chaplain across the hostile area," MSG. Roberts added.
This type of training is vital for when chaplains and chaplain assistants' units are deployed into hostile environments. It is the chaplain assistants duty to protect the unit's chaplain.
"We don't want to become a liability instead of a capability," Col. Keith Goode, III Corps Chaplain, said.
By keeping the chaplains safe, the UMTs are able to perform their three core competencies: nurture the living, care for the wounded and honor the fallen.
"So, you just trust that your chaplain assistant has literally got your back and that you can do the work and take care of soldiers wherever you find yourself," Col. Goode added.
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