New chaplain is focused on helping Reservists

Published March 11, 2015
By Tech. Sgt. Abigail Klein
931st Air Refueling Group Public Affairs

MCCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- Though the base chapel is currently under construction, the new 931st Air Refueling Group Chaplain is ready to assist McConnell's Reservists and their family members.

Chaplain (Capt.) Paul Mount arrived at McConnell on December 2014. Since then, he has made a point of travelling to each unit during the monthly unit training assemblies, taking the time to get to know McConnell's leadership and the Airmen.

"As chaplains, it's our job to provide our reservists and their families with spiritual care, and to protect their constitutional right to the free exercise of religion," said Mount. "Since most of our reservists are not all stationed here, we can also put them in touch with these services wherever they live."

According to the official Air Force Chaplain website at www.chaplaincorps.af.mil, this is typically accomplished through religious observances, providing pastoral care, and advising leadership on spiritual, ethical, moral, morale, core values, and religious accommodation issues.

While the active duty chaplains have often assisted McConnell Reservists since the introduction of the unit in 1995, this is the first time that a traditional reservist has been placed in this role in more than three years. This allows Airmen to receive counsel that is more reserve focused, particularly when it comes to managing civilian, military and family life. Mount, who is also a traditional reservist, works as a natural gas pipeline operator in Burleson, Texas, in his civilian capacity, and can relate to the struggle.

"We come from the civilian sector too, so we know what it is like to juggle both a military boss and civilian boss," said Mount. "As chaplains, we're already dual-hatted in being a chaplain and an officer, but I'm all about helping our Airmen and their families...even though I'm not here all the time, I always provide our Airmen with a way to contact me."

Assisting Mount is another traditional reservist, Staff Sgt. Michael Schmidt, 931st ARG chaplain assistant, who has already been at the unit for a couple of years. During his time here, Schmidt has come to realize the importance of having a chaplain dedicated to McConnell Reservists.

"A reserve unit is much more like a family because you will work with some of the same people for years, if not your whole career," he said. "For a reserve chaplain, you have the potential to become a career-long pastor for some people, and it can allow the reservist to go from saying, 'I need a chaplain, to 'I need my chaplain;' it helps to confide in someone you trust."

Both Mount and Schmidt agree this trust is important when providing counsel. Even though AFI 52-101, the "Code of Ethics for Chaplains of the Armed Services" affirms that all chaplains will hold in confidence any privileged communications received during their ministry, reservists may still be wary to confide in their chaplain.

"The chaplain corps is the only base agency that guarantees you 100 percent complete confidentiality," said Mount. "We can't provide information to other people without third party consent; a lot of people still don't know that chaplains have privileged communication."

Both Mount and Schmidt utilized the recent Wingman Day event held during the March Unit Training Assembly to speak with Airmen directly about the privileged communication, and the other spiritual services they can provide Airmen. The message was echoed by the theme of the event, "I am connected," showing each Airman how they are connected to each other and the support network that is in place during difficult times.

"We want our reservists to know that we are here for them, and that we can reach out to them 24/7, even if we aren't here, all the time. It is still our job to provide them with the spiritual care and counsel they need," said Mount.

For more information about the 931st base chaplain, or to speak to a chaplain, call (903) 918-9802.