The Chaplain Corps began in July 1774 when the Continental Congress, at General George Washington’s request, authorized one chaplain for each regiment of the Continental Army, and the Navy Chaplaincy was instituted that November. Early chaplains represented the prevailing Protestant denominations, and since the Revolutionary War chaplains have served in every major American conflict. Today chaplains represent five major faiths—Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist—and the Department of Defense authorizes the selection of chaplains, men and women, from approximately 200 denominations. Chaplains are commissioned officers who serve in a traditionally non-combatant role, with separate Chaplain Corps in the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force, each having specific entrance requirements; generally, candidates must be ordained and endorsed by their affiliated religious organizations. The Navy provides chaplain services to the Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine. In wartime, chaplains have ministered on or near the front lines, improvising prayer services on carrier flight decks and in the field, caring for the wounded, offering pastoral services, administering last rites, and living and working alongside other military personnel while providing strength, guidance, and consolation, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. A widely remembered example occurred on February 3, 1943, when the Army transport ship Dorchester, carrying 902 servicemen, merchant seamen, and civilians, was torpedoed by a German submarine shortly after midnight in the icy North Atlantic; four chaplains aboard—two Protestants, one Jewish, and one Roman Catholic—helped deploy life rafts and distribute life preservers, then gave away their own life belts and were last seen holding hands and praying together before the ship sank, becoming known as the “Immortal Chaplains.” Today chaplains also are increasingly involved with the family lives of service members affected by long and frequent deployments, routinely performing religious ceremonies, conducting funeral services and weddings, providing confidential counseling, and advising commanders on spiritual and ethical matters.
