JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
The Air Force has jobs for everything; from high-profile careers like the fighter pilot to the unsung heroes that keep the flight line clear of snow and debris. One of the most overlooked jobs in the Air Force is the Chaplain Assistant.
"People underestimate how important being the enlisted liaison is," said Keesha Green, 11th Wing Headquarters Chapel chaplain assistant. "There's a misconception that we're just chaplain secretaries."
Chaplains and chaplain assistants work in Religious Support Teams that give briefings, hold invocations, run Sunday services and organize retreats among other things. Chaplain assistants also assist in the day-to-day administrative activities required by the chapel and talk to walk-ins before directing them to a chaplain.
"We definitely stay busy," Green, the NCO in charge of appropriated funds, said. "The chaplain assistant is kind of a jack-of-all-trades, there's an administrative side and a financial side along with being a spiritual medic."
The chaplain assistant's primary mission is to support the chapel's mission: maintaining the community's spiritual resiliency.
"They offer assistance to Airmen any way they can," said Chaplain Capt. Aaron Reynolds, 11th Wing chaplain. "It's easy to downplay what they do, but it's a big job. Our mission wouldn't get completed without them."
Approachability is one of the chaplain assistant's most important contributions to the success of the chapel mission.
"Stripes speak to stripes," Green said. "There can be a stigma to speaking with a chaplain since they're officers. It's easier to break the ice with an enlisted member."
The complete confidentiality that comes with speaking to a chaplain is also carried over to the chaplain assistant.
"You can't find this kind of confidentiality, on our level, anywhere else," said Green.
Though the job is stressful, Green feels is can be very rewarding.
"I joined because I wanted to do something different, to network and help people," said Green. "This career field lets me do exactly that."