Interview with Col. Gene Fowler

By Brad Dupray

As command chaplain for the U.S. Army in the Pacific, Col. Gene “Chip” Fowler oversees all Army chaplains in Hawaii, Alaska, and Japan and will soon be directing those in Korea, as well. Fowler has been stationed at forts in 10 different states, served two tours of duty in Korea, and had tours in Germany, Bosnia, and Iraq. He attended Atlanta Christian College, is a graduate of Milligan College, and earned an MDiv from Emmanuel School of Religion. Fowler is currently stationed at Fort Shafter in Hawaii, where he resides with his wife of 34 years, Lou.

Did you start out with the intention of being a chaplain?

Absolutely not. I knew nothing about the chaplaincy until my last year in seminary. I was going to be a preacher at a church. I had served a couple of churches while in school. But my intention was to get a church and march on from there.

How did you end up in the Army chaplaincy?

My last year in seminary I was working as a student assistant in the development office, and they had just hired a man named Charlie Trinkle (the son of O.A. Trinkle, former president of the North American Christian Convention). Charlie was a retired chaplain. One day in routine conversation I asked, “What is a chaplain?” and that opened the door. The more he talked about it, the more intrigued I became. I investigated it and decided I wanted to experience it to see if that”s what I wanted to do.

How did you determine you wanted to make a career of it?

My first day on a military base, as I arrived at the basic course for chaplains, I was walking by myself and I had this very intense presence come over me. I heard a voice that said, “This is home.” It was a clear, audible voice, but no one was around. The presence was very peaceful. “This is where I belong,” is how I interpreted that. I interpreted that experience to mean that God was calling me to be an Army chaplain.

What does an Army chaplain do?

We do the basic pastoral core functions all preachers do””we preach, teach, baptize, marry, bury””all of the things a civilian pastor does, and then some.

“Then some?”

It is the administrative function for soldiers to get to worship according to their tradition, and the chaplain is responsible for that. Part of our function is to advise (or teach) the commander that all soldiers have the right by the Constitution to worship as they choose. That is the commander”s responsibility. It is the chaplain”s job to see that it is done.

And the commander would be . . .?

The commander could be a captain, lieutenant colonel, two-star general, three-star general””it”s a very structured hierarchy. The commander is the guy in charge of that part of the organization. We advise the commander on the impact religion has on operations””all that has to do with the soldier”s moral and spiritual welfare. That can be any kind of thing the military does””somehow religion can have an impact on that.

So how do you handle it when you have a soldier in your charge who is of another faith?

If the issue is not specifically oriented to a denominational perspective, then that chaplain will take care of all the spiritual needs. Pastoral counseling, marriage counseling, premarital counseling, and things like that. If it”s a general religious issue, we take care of our own soldiers. If it becomes something specifically denominational, we get them to a chaplain of their denomination. For example, it is my job to see that the Catholic soldiers get to the Catholic service””that every soldier who wants to go to worship has the capability of doing that.

How many chaplains are on a base?

It depends on the size of the base and how many units they have. We are assigned to units. The first level unit that would have a chaplain would be a battalion of about 500 soldiers. We generally have one chaplain for every battalion or larger. The structure of the Army varies from location to location. At Fort Hood, the largest American army base in the world, we had 100 chaplains. Leading that was like being pastor of a large megachurch with 100 pastors on staff. That”s just the clergy pastors. We also had administrative staff of 100 to 120.

How does the battlefield role differ from the everyday chaplaincy?

The roles are the same, with regard to the spiritual function; you just have to duck your head a lot! You have to make sure there is a safe environment to worship and a consciousness of the security actions you must take to make it as safe as possible. Of course, you”ve got many more soldiers interested in spiritual things when they”re in danger, so you tend to have a significant amount of soldiers who are looking for nurture. There are a lot of Bible studies and things to keep folks engaged in spiritual nurture.

I guess there are no atheists in foxholes.

Yes. Over and over we see that when there isn”t a chaplain around the soldiers will gather and at least have prayer and read some Scripture, establish their own Bible studies in their tents or trailers, have lay-led spiritual worship””faithful soldiers will do that.

Is “chaplain” synonymous with “conscientious objector?”

No, but we deal with those. A chaplain does not equate to a conscientious objector, rather we are noncombatants. We do not train with weapons. We do not carry weapons. We do not fight””except the devil.

Do you, as a chaplain, determine who is a legitimate conscientious objector?

The chaplain is engaged in the conscientious objector determination process. We”ll sit down in a counseling session and ask pertinent questions about why, if you”re a conscientious objector, did you join the Army? People do sometimes change their minds. Is it a legitimate transformation from a moral or spiritual conversion? I make assessment and provide my advice to the commander. The chaplain”s interview is one of several things the commander has in the packet to determine a conscientious objector request.

How do you answer pacifists?

I don”t get into an argument with them. People have a right to choose what they believe. If there were an opportunity to discuss concepts and ideas I would acknowledge that it would be nice if everyone were a pacifist. But because there are people in the world who try to kill others, it”s a holy thing to try and protect others. The Army does that. The police do that. It is a holy thing to protect against those who would ravage others.

Do you think there”s a lot of misunderstanding of your role from people outside of the military?

Yes. When I came into the Army one of my local pastor buddies said, very seriously, that he was sorry I was leaving the ministry and that he would pray I would come back to the ministry. I didn”t try to argue, but for me, the chaplaincy””whether it”s military, hospital, police””is simply an extension of the church. We are missionaries who, instead of going to a foreign field, are going to another venue””the military””where people need the Lord.

You”re really working side-by-side with the soldiers, right?

Our role is to bring Jesus to the soldiers and the soldiers to Jesus. We”re with the soldiers every day. We”re a constant reminder, a constant presence. We take a break with them, read a Psalm with them, pray with them. We”re with our people all the time and if we”re not with our people we”re not doing our job. We”re not just stuck in a chapel somewhere from Monday to Friday and having church on Sunday. We”re out where people can see us.

It”s a unique mission field.

It”s a great ministry, a field that is “white unto harvest.” It is a mission field””one for which you don”t have to go raise support! I have preached in civilian churches, as a chaplain, all over the world. We”re just Christians worshiping together, one body of Christ. Christians only. I have had the opportunity to share the Restoration Movement by engagement with the civilian community in churches around the world.

How do people within the military observe your role?

The vast majority highly respect the chaplains. The chaplaincy has a positive reputation within the military, even among those who don”t ordinarily go to church. There are a few exceptions, just like in the civilian ministry. But the vast majority of chaplains are highly skilled, very compassionate, and leave a very good impression with the people around them.

How does your rank play into the role?

Within the chaplaincy there is more peer group sense. But just like in a multistaff church, the senior pastor has more respect. That”s the way it is in the military. We”re peers, and yet there”s a “yes-sir” type of mentality as well. That”s just a part of the culture. With those officers or soldiers who are not in the chaplaincy, it depends on the individual. Some look at the chaplain purely as an officer. Some look at him as a pastor, regardless of rank. Within the chaplaincy, we are pastors regardless of rank. However, a colonel is a colonel and he gets certain protocol respect that a captain doesn”t get.

Is it more difficult to deal with issues of completely divergent faiths (for example Buddhists or Muslims) or of Christians who have deep theological differences?

For me, the difference emanates from the other person, not from me. I”ve always had people around me who were of radically different faiths. I don”t judge them. If they have a mind to discuss religion and theology, I”ll do that. I personally do not find it difficult to be around those kinds of people. Most of them make a conscientious choice to pick the religion they adhere to. If I have a soldier in my unit, it is my responsibility to see that (he) is able to worship according to his faith. It is my responsibility to care for that individual, and by doing so, he or she may come to me at some later time when he or she has a spiritual need. I try to “kill them with kindness,” so to speak. I don”t get into antagonistic debates. That does more harm than being compassionate and showing love.

Are you able to maintain your theological integrity within such an ecumenical environment?

Absolutely. In fact, one of the major issues I wanted to examine when I came into the chaplaincy was to test whether or not the Restoration Movement principle, “We are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only,” is, in fact, true. Could I relate to the Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Catholic as Christians who happen to have a different kind of liturgy, who have a different theology, but who nonetheless believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God?

And you determined . . .

I found Restoration principles to be very relevant and very true. Restoration Movement chaplains tend to do very, very well in the military because we don”t argue matters of opinion. The Restoration Movement is extremely adaptable in a multidenominational environment. There are some denominational chaplains who tend not to relate well to their brother and sister chaplains because they stick to the dots and the dashes of their denominational theology. So contrary to that brother pastor who said, “I”m sorry you”re leaving the ministry,” as a chaplain, I have been living the Restoration Movement to its fullest!