ACC Chaplain Corps Leaders Assess Holloman's Expeditionary Readiness
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DVIDS - GeorgiaU.S. Air Force Col. Kleet Barclay, ACC command chaplain, and Chief Master Sgt. John McClean, ACC Religious Affairs senior enlisted leader, met with members of the chapel team and 49th Wing leadership during the three-day functional site visit.
The visit centered on the vital Chaplain Corps "Ready Now" initiative, establishing a foundation for ongoing dialogue and operationalizing Air Force guidance. During the visit, the command team evaluated the staging and condition of Chaplain Corps mobilization equipment, emphasizing its role in enabling worldwide religious support teams to use those assets in order to sustain Airmen in deployed and austere environments.
"Our responsibility is to ensure our Religious Support Teams are ready to provide support wherever the mission takes our Airmen and Guardians," Barclay said. "Visits like these give us an opportunity to evaluate those capabilities firsthand, identify gaps and make improvements before the need arises."
One of the top initiatives was partnering with the 635th Materiel Maintenance Group’s Basic Expeditionary Airfield Resources base to inventory the Chaplain Corps’ "Chapel in a Box," a War Reserve Materiel asset designed to be rapidly deployed when needed.
Previously, chaplains traveled with smaller kits that enabled them to provide religious accommodations and morale support to service members in deployed or remote locations. While effective, these kits offered fewer capabilities than the equipment currently available.
This WRM kit equips deployed RSTs to establish temporary chapels and conduct worship services using included books, altars, vestments and other religious equipment. By providing a rapidly deployable capability, the kits enhance global RST readiness to support Combatant Commands and Chaplain Corps taskings around the globe.
"This 'Chapel in a Box' kit provides us with standardized gear and equipment that will allow our religious support teams to deploy quickly if or when called upon to support operations wherever that may be," said Capt. John Latham, 49th Wing unit chaplain. "The capability can be used by any of our RSTs supporting combatant commands and any location where permanent chapel facilities might not be available."
The visit also provided functional leaders and the 49th WG leadership an opportunity to discuss expeditionary chapel operations and identify ways to improve the equipment and processes used to support deployed Airmen.
As Air Force operations and deployment requirements change, periodic reviews of equipment and procedures can help ensure chapel teams remain prepared to meet the needs of our service members in the field.
"This was a great visit as it gave our chapel team an opportunity to demonstrate how we manage our WRM assets," said Lt. Col. Roland Reitz, 49th WG chaplain. "More importantly, it allowed us to identify improvements we can make now to ensure our kits are ready when they're needed for deployment."
The engagement also highlighted the Holloman Chapel team's efforts to think outside the box, modernize Chaplain Corps capabilities and develop more agile approaches to expeditionary religious support. In alignment with the Secretary of War’s directives, these initiatives aim to ensure religious support capabilities evolve alongside mission requirements, enabling chaplains to provide responsive support for Airmen and Guardians wherever they are called to serve.
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