Since 2008, the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR) has hosted U.S. Army Chaplains. These Army Chaplain Fellows are selected by the the Army Chief of Chaplains for the Senior Service Fellowship. This fellowship is designed to expand U.S. Army Chaplaincy advisory capabilities in order to
- provide support to field commanders in their need to understand and intervene non-violently in religious conflicts
- support the effort of Army Chaplains to develop curriculum and case research toward enhancing the education of Army Chaplains
- increase knowledge and awareness of work done by military chaplains among the S-CAR and George Mason University faculty and students
These layered goals of providing service to commanders in the field, support for military chaplains, as well as serving the needs of service men and women, are the foundation of the fellowship program.
While in residence at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Army Chaplain Fellows will attend classes, lectures, workshops, and conferences hosted by S-CAR, the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC), and other D.C. metro area universities and think tanks. In addition, they complete research addressing topics related to religious dimensions of conflict facing today's military and the field of conflict resolution. Some classes the fellows attend include World Religions and Diplomacy, Diversity and Difference in Conflict Resolution, and Leadership in Conflict Analysis and Resolution.
For more information about the the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution, and the U.S. Army War College and all of its programs, please visit their homepages.
Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution
This year, three recipients were chosen for the U.S. Army War College Senior Service Chaplain Fellowship at S-CAR. The incoming SSC Fellows for the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University are:
Chaplain Marc Gauthier
Marc Gauthier is an Army Chaplain and Army Senior Service College Fellow at
the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. He recently returned from a one year assignment in Kabul Afghanistan as Chaplain to the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command. He holds a Master of Divinity Degree and A Doctor of Ministry Degree in Biblical Communications from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. His previous assignments include the Command Chaplain for the Army Special Forces Command and the Course Manager for the Army Chaplain Officer Basic Course. He has served as an Active Duty Army Chaplain for 19 years and is an ordained minister with the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference. He is conducting research on the applications of microfinance and microenterprise as tools to foster peacebuilding and conflict transformation in post conflict environments.
Chaplain Peter Lawson
Peter Lawson is an Army National Guard Chaplain and Army Senior Service College Fellow at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. He was deployed to Ramadi Iraq in 2005-2006 as the Brigade Combat Team Chaplain for the 228th Pennsylvania Army National Guard Combat Team. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Westminster College, Pennsylvania (1982), a Master of Divinity Degree from Princeton Theological Seminary (1985) and A Doctor of Ministry Degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (2002). Before his acceptance into the Senior Service College, he served as the Deputy Staff Chaplain at the National Guard Bureau in Arlington VA. Previous to serving in full-time status with the military, he was a part-time reservist and full-time civilian pastor, having served three church pastorates in Ohio and Pennsylvania. He is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church USA. The focus of his research is on the role of religious rhetoric in National Security Strategy since 9/11.
Chaplain Terry L. McBride
Chaplain Terry L. McBride holds a Master of Divinity Degree from the Liberty Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia. An ordained Baptist minister, he has pastored churches in North Carolina, and Virginia. In May 1988, he became a United States Army Chaplain Candidate. Upon graduation from Seminary in 1990, he was commissioned a United States Army Chaplain and was assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He has served in various assignments all over the globe and served as a Battalion Chaplain in combat operations in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm; in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia in support of Operation Joint Endeavor; three combat tours as the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Arabian Peninsula Chaplain, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom; is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; currently attending the U.S. Army War College Senior Service College Fellowship at George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia.
Chaplain James Palmer
Lieutenant Colonel James Palmer, Jr. is a career Army Chaplain currently serving as an Army Fellow at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia. He is a graduate of the Chaplain’s Officer Basic and Advanced Courses; Combined Arms Services and Staff School, Force Management Course; and Command and General Staff College.
Chaplain Palmer’s previous assignments include: Chaplain for the 115th Forward Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division; 304th Signal Battalion, 11th Transportation Battalion and Post Chaplain Fort Story, Virginia; Division Support Command (DISCOM), and 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division; Deputy Task Force Chaplain for rotation KFOR 3A Joint Guardian Kosovo; Ethics Instructor for the Army Logistics University (ALU); Small Group Instructor for the Chaplain Officer Basic Leaders Course at the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School; the latest was Headquarters Training and Doctrine Command.
James holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Virginia Union University, a Master of Divinity from the Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University, a Master of Arts in American Studies from the College of William and Mary and the Doctor of Ministry from Regent University. Chaplain Palmer’s research interest focused on “The Influence of Religion on the Rules of Engagements.”
Chaplain Charles Reynolds
Chaplain Charles Reynolds holds a Master of Divinity, and Doctor of Ministry Degrees from the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, CA. His Doctor of Ministry Research Project “World Changers” has been replicated nationally and internationally by Southern Baptist for the past twenty years. He also has a Master of Theology Degree in Religion and Culture from Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton NJ. He has served in various assignments including a deployment to Macedonia with Operation Able Century as Battalion Chaplain in 1998, and three tours as Battalion Chaplain in support of peacekeeping operations in Bosnia with Operation Joint Endeavor in 1997, 1999 and 2000. In 2004 he received the Officer Instructor of the Year Award at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, where he taught Cross Cultural Awareness to US Special Operations Forces. He has served two combat tours the first with the Third Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light) in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan from February 2006 till June 2007. He is currently serving as the Deputy Command Chaplain for United States Forces Iraq with an additional assignment as the Strategic Religious Advisor for the Commanding General Lloyd J. Austin in support of Operation New Dawn Iraq. As the Strategic Advisement Chaplain he conducted over 40 meeting engagements seeking to resolve conflicts between various religious factions.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and the U.S. Army War College Senior Service College where he served as a “Fellow” at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia. His research project was on the Danger of Avoiding and the importance of Including Religious Issues in Strategic Military Policy and Planning.
Chaplain Ira Houck
Chaplain (LTC) Ira C. Houck III holds Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Carolina, Master of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary; Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Master Certificate in Conflict Resolution from George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. He was ordained December 17, 1980 in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1991. He became an U.S. Army chaplain in (’89) and after Desert Storm he migrated to active duty (’92).
Chaplain Houck served as Small Group Instructor of World Religions for Chaplains at the US Army Chaplain Center and School, and as Chief of Doctrine and Futures at the Chaplain School’s Combat Developments (’03-06). He was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for a special tasking (’06) in support of Detainee Operations for the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC). He has written classified information papers for specialized areas of military chaplaincy; religious support to Detainees, religious support in Homeland Defense and Katrina disaster relief, and religious support with Information Operations. Chaplain Houck is an honorary recipient of the National Bible Society’s Witherspoon Award presented in New York City at the St. Regis Hotel, NYC (’07). He earned the US Army Air Assault and Airborne parachute badges to ensure the free exercise of religion with those elite forces.
The Army Chief of Chaplains selected him for the U.S. Army War College Senior Service Fellowship Program (’08) at George Mason University’s Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution in Arlington, Virginia. The US Army War College published his thesis, “Strategic Religious Engagement for Peacebuilding” (’09). Upon graduation from ICAR he was assigned as III Corps’ World Religions Chaplain and provided direct religious support to the survivors of the Fort Hood Massacre on 5 NOV 09, then deployed with the Corps Chaplains to Iraq (’10) with duty at the US Embassy, Baghdad, as the United States Forces, Iraq, Staff Religious Advisor to Generals Odierno and Austin. Upon his return from Iraq (’11), he was assigned and currently serves as the Director, Center for World Religions at the US Army Chaplain Center and School in Columbia, SC
Chaplain Kenneth Duvall