REPORT ON CAWG CHAPLAIN
SERVICE AND
CAWG CONFERENCES
The CAWG Chaplain Service Conference was
held 7-8 September 2001 in Santa Maria in conjunction with the annual CAWG
Conference.
The CAWG Chaplain Service conference began
on Friday afternoon. Ch (Col.) Jim
Melancon, recently appointed National Chief of CAP Chaplain Service, gave those
in attendance a report of the activities within the chaplain service nationwide.
He also shared regarding the future direction and vision that he and his
newly appointed staff will be pursuing.
With the implementation of Title 10, concern about the levels of training
of our chaplains has been raised. This
is an area that demands immediate attention.
Ch Melancon answered many questions that were posed to him regarding the
overall picture of the CAP Chaplain Service.
Ch (LtC,) Dan Dyer, Pacific Region Chaplain, shared about what is
happening within the Pacific Region Chaplain Service and the goals that he and
his staff are pursuing. He shared
about the upcoming PCR Chaplains Staff College.
Ch (LtC) Whit Woodard is serving as the Dean of the College.
Chaplain Woodard has planned to conduct separate training tracks for
Chaplains and Moral Leadership Officers (MLOs) for one day during the College.
While chaplains will be receiving instruction from active Air Force
chaplains regarding military funerals, types of ministry and working with an
honor guard, MLOs will be receiving training from Dr. Sam Marandos, a master
teacher/trainer in the area of small group teaching.
MLOs will also be given the opportunity during the College to advance in
their specialty track by leading a Moral Leadership session.
Other activities will include training in the Incident Command System
(ICS) and flying in the flight simulator. The
PCR Chaplains Staff College will be conducted 10-13 February 2002 at Travis Air
Force Base. Ch (Maj.) Paul Ward,
newly appointed CAWG HC, introduced the members of his staff who were in
attendance and presented them Certificates of Appreciation.
He gave a report of his activities since coming on board in March of 2001
as well as the sharing of goals. The
Chaplain Service conference recessed for the day so that members could attend
the first event of the CAWG Conference….a reception.
At that reception, there was a Change of Command for Group 2 and the
presentation of a 40 service pin to one of the members.
Chaplains were well represented at the
General Session of the CAWG Conference which took place on Saturday morning.
In the General session, Col. Larry Myrick shared
a “State of the Wing Address” in which he congratulated the members
of the Wing for making CAWG number 1 in several categories in the CAP.
A ceremony for the Change of Command for Group1 took place.
Various awards were presented. Among
those receiving awards were 2nd Lt. Adelle McKinney and Ch (LtC.) Tim
Spiller. Adelle received the
Commander’s Commendation Award for outstanding work in developing and
maintaining the web pages for the Pacific Region, California and Washington Wing
Chaplains. Tim received the
Chaplain of the Year award for 2001.
Following the General Session, the CAWG
Chaplain Service Conference resumed. It
began with a retirement ceremony for Ch (Maj.) Elbert “Pete” North.
Pete began his CAP Chaplaincy career in August of 1973.
Ch (Col.) Jim Melancon read congratulatory letters from Brigadier
General Richard Bowling, National Commander and from himself. Ch
(LtC.) Dan Dyer read a resolution presented Pete on behalf of the Pacific Region
Chaplain Service. Ch (Maj.) Paul
Ward read a letter and presented Pete with a Certificate of Appreciation from
the CAWG Chaplain Service. He also
presented Pete with a new card from National HQ that reclassified Pete as
“retired.” Col. Larry Myrick,
CAWG CC, was on hand to present Pete with a retirement certificate from National
HQ. The ceremony concluded on a
personal note with Ch (LtC) John Berger and his wife, Ione, presenting gifts to
the Norths. Ione raises orchids and
pinned Leona North with an orchid that recently came to bloom on a spike of 7
orchids. John presented with Pete
with an aviation clock with a lovely inscription.
Ch Berger also had spearheaded the collection of e-mails,cards, and
letters and place them in a “retirement log” and presented that to Pete.
The morning session featured training in two
areas. Ch (Maj.) Jack Nahrstadt,
Professional Development Officer, presented each in attendance with a notebook
of regulations and forms that pertain to the awards, promotions, and training
track of the chaplains. He walked
us through the process, highlighting the necessary forms and/or regs.
This was most helpful. Maj.
Pat Okawa followed up with the training track for MLOs and instruction on
properly filling out paperwork. This
is another area which was helpful to all. The
CAWG Chaplain Service Conference with a prayer from Ch (Maj.) Pete North (CAP
ret.) Members of the Chaplain
Service were encouraged to attend workshops offered by other directorates of the
Wing in the afternoon or visit the flight line to see the corporate aircraft
that were brought in from this event.
In the afternoon, Maj. Pat Okawa and Ch (Maj)
Paul Ward conducted a workshop for the purpose of educating and recruiting Moral
Leadership Officers. Tools were
shared to assist Squadron Commanders or interested Senior Members in recruiting
and training Moral Leadership Officers.
A lovely banquet concluded the CAWG
Conference. During the banquet
three USAFR Officers were honored in a retirement ceremony.
Each of these officers served in a vital capacity with CAWG CAP.
Among the other awards that were presented at the banquet were a couple
of awards from the Pacific Region. 2nd
Lt. Nancy Woodard received the Pacific Region Moral Leadership Officer of the
Year award for 2001. Ch (Maj) Paul
Ward received the Pacific Region Squadron Chaplain of the Year award for 2001. On another note, Ch (LtC) Dan Dyer received the Pacfic Region
Senior Chaplain of the Year award for 2001 while attending the National
Conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio during the month of August.
I would encourage you to make plans to
attend next year’s CAWG Chaplain Service and CAWG Conference.
* * * * * * * * * * *
On a personal note…..
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the members of the CAWG Chaplain Service staff for their valued input in planning this conference and their assistance in putting it together. Thanks Chuck for serving as registrar. Thanks Jack and Pat for leading workshops. Thanks John for putting together the retirement log for Pete. A very special “thank you” goes to Francis Culberson, National HQ Personnel office, who pulled off a “miracle” in getting Pete’s retirement package to us for this conference. When I say “miracle”…I truly mean it.
I am also so proud to be a part of such great company....Ch (LtC) Tim
Spiller, CAWG Chaplain of the Year for 2001. Ch (LtC) John Berger was the previous "Squadron Chaplain of the Year" for Pacific Region. We all know of
Ch (LtC) Dan Dyer's hardware collection received this year :) (Military Chaplains Assocation CAP Chaplain of the Year; PCR Senior Chaplain of the
Year; National Senior Chaplain of the Year). I am so proud of members of my staff whose efforts have been recognized and honored: 2nd Lt. Adelle
McKinney (Commander's Commendation Award) and 2nd Lt. Nancy Woodard (PCR
Moral Leadership Officer of the Year).
More than that, I am proud to say that I have the privilege of serving with some of the greatest men and women – members of the CAWG Chaplain Service. Thank you all for your prayers and support.
In Service Together,
Paul
Chaplain (Maj.) Paul Ward
CAWG HC