Two additional chaplains deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom
Two Orthodox Christian chaplains were deployed in mid-February to “Operation Enduring Freedom,” bringing the total number of Orthodox chaplains deployed to the Middle East to six.
The Rev. John D. Brown, Ch (CPT) USAR, Priest-in-Charge of Holy Apostles Mission, Bloomington-Normal, IL, was deployed in early February. Father Brown is a chaplain with the US Army Reserve Component.
Also deployed was the Rev. Joseph Velez, Ch (CPT) USA of Fort Sill, OK, with his unit.
Four other chaplains were deployed earlier in the year. They are the Very Rev. Jerome Cwiklinski, CDR, CHC, USN; the Rev. Mark Koczak, LCDR, CHC, USN; the Rev. Timothy Ullmann, Ch, Capt, USAF; and the Very Rev. James Jadick, Ch, Maj, USAFR, rector of Saints Peter and Paul Church, Herkimer, NY, a chaplain with the US Air Force Reserve Component.
“We ask the prayers of all of our faithful as our chaplains begin their ministries in the current crisis,” said His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, who serves as Ecclesiastical Endorser for Orthodox military chaplains. “May God protect and preserve them and return them safely to their families and flocks.”