 Living
The July 16 ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new North Fort Hood chapel heralded the planned start of a multimillion dollar expansion project to house, feed and train troops in the North Fort Hood cantonment area. "Within the next 18 to 24 months, we should see groundbreaking for the 52-million dollar phase one construction of a six-phase, six-battalion operational readiness training complex, complete with barracks; brigade, battalion and company headquarters; dining facilities; motor pools and maintenance facilities," said Ed Turner, mobilization chief of Fort Hood's directorate of plans, training, mobilization and security. "As that development continues, this chapel we are dedicating today will play a crucial role in the lives of the Soldiers and civilians who will live, work and train here." The new facilities will be built on open land across the street from the new chapel, which has already been in use for weeks by reserve component units being trained by First Army Division West for overseas deployments. "We are holding one non-denominational service a week, soon to be adding a second to support the needs," said Chaplain (Capt.) James Khile, chaplain for the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 147th Aviation Battalion out of Madison, which is training for its mission in Iraq. "We also are offering two Bible studies a week and different opportunities throughout the week for Soldiers to come in, relax, take a break from everything. We're also doing quite a bit of counseling and morale support for the Soldiers." The new chapel provides a great opportunity to enhance and develop the spiritual resiliency of the Soldiers working and training at North Fort Hood, said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Randy Edwards, Division West chaplain. "It provides worship opportunities," Edwards said. "It provides a sanctuary, a place where Soldiers can come and take a knee for a brief time. It also provides a training center for the unit ministry teams that Division West has responsibility for training before they deploy, so they are well prepared to provide religious support." Khile and his enlisted chaplain assistant, who make up the 147th's unit ministry team, have been training in the new chapel for the duties and situations they may encounter while deployed, including conducting a memorial ceremony. "The facility worked great for that," Khile said. "We actually had our honor guard that fired a salute outside the door, and we walked through the whole procedure. It was very much real-life training." The new chapel is more than what he had imagined, Khile said. "This facility has been wonderful to use," he said. "I was a pastor for a number of years, and I didn't have a facility this nice to work out of." Every year, tens of thousands of Soldiers are temporarily stationed or work every day at North Fort Hood, said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Richard Brunk Jr., Hood Mobilization Brigade chaplain. "We've only had this building in use a few weeks, but already we've had a number of emergencies - Soldier crises - dealt with right here," Brunk said. "Soldiers could walk in and say, ‘I need to talk to someone, I have a problem, this is going on in my life.'" Brunk emphasized that the new chapel is not non-denominational, but multi-denominational. "We have storage areas and resources for many different faith groups," Brunk said, adding that, in a one-week period, religious leaders at North Fort Hood have provided services for 26 different faith and language groups. The original North Fort Hood chapel, which still stands beside Texas State Highway 36, was built in 1943 and served Soldiers until 2007. Since the old chapel's closing, religious leaders have provided support to troops in the field, or in tents, or in a multi-purpose facility. Having an official chapel building that is solely devoted to religious and spiritual support is especially important in the training environment of North Fort Hood, said Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Felt, Fort Hood garrison command sergeant major. "Here at North Fort Hood, we have mobilized Soldiers from either the National Guard or the Reserve," Felt said. "These are Soldiers that have just recently left their Families; they've left their homes, their places of employment. They are about to embark on an endeavor in the Global War on Terrorism to assist our nation, and that can be very challenging. "As a place of solace, this chapel will meet many needs and will strengthen a Soldier in many ways that are intangible to the normal way of measuring. It will build a stronger Soldier, which will build a stronger unit, which will ensure the mission is accomplished." ADDITIONAL PHOTO:
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