The U.S. Army Chaplain Corps celebrates its 248th birthday July 29th. This week, the Corps, along with the Institute for Religious Leadership, will celebrate the milestone at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC with a host of activities, including a regimental run, a ball and a renaming ceremony for its auditorium.
According to Chaplain Col. James Palmer, Jr., the renaming ceremony will honor Chaplain Major General Matthew Augustus Zimmerman, Jr., the 18th Chief of Chaplain and the first African-American elevated to that position. Zimmerman is a native of South Carolina and a Benedict College alum.
The Chaplain Corps and Institute for Religious Leadership trains all Army chaplains and religious affairs specialists. They provide religious service support to soldiers and families and has participated in every campaign engaged by the U.S. Army since 1775.
"It takes a special person for the calling to serve in the United States Army Chaplains," said Palmer.
"When a soldier is out there, I think having a chaplain in the midst of that unit has definitely paid great dividends, because it allows soldiers, if they have any issues or concerns, to go to someone other than their command that they can go to and just share ... their uttermost feelings and notes.
"I would just say that having a chaplain assigned to a unit when that unit deploys is definitely an asset to the commander and to the soldiers of that particular unit," he said.
Schedule of activities:
- 25 July
- 0545 - 0700 Regimental Run joined by USO
- 1100 -1400 Organizational Day
- 26 July
- 1000 - 1040 Regimental Awards/Memorial
- 27 July
- 1745 - 1830 USA-IRL Auditorium Renaming Ceremony
- 1830 - UTC Regimental Ball (USC Alumni Center)
- 28 July
- 0900 - 0945 Change of Commandant
- 1300 - 1400 CH Palmer’s retirement ceremony
