ABILENE, TX (November 1, 2004) – It was something about the uniform that grabbed his attention. For Chaplain Capt. Kevin Lockett, that attraction grew into a life-long commitment to ministry among members of the U.S. Air Force, which has taken him halfway around the globe to places like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.
Lockett, more affectionately known as “Chappy” to those stationed at Dyess Air Force base in Abilene as well as those he has counseled while on deployment, never dreamed he would find himself in such a unique pastoral ministry.
The native of Rockford, Illinois, views his work as pastoral ministry largely because he does many of the same things in his military chaplaincy that he did in local parish ministry years ago – preaching, teaching, counseling and creating special worship experiences throughout the year. It’s the added dimension of working in a military environment that brings the unique perspective to his work.
His introduction to military ministry came while a student at North Park Theological Seminary. Yes, it was the uniform that first caught his attention as he listened to the recruiter explain the chaplain program, but not the usual infatuation one might think.
“The ‘hook’ of the uniform was for me an opportunity to live out incarnational ministry,” Lockett explained. “As Jesus ‘put on our uniform’ of flesh and blood and walked among us, so I have the privilege of ‘putting on the uniform’ of military members and walking for a time in their world.”
His interest in chaplain ministry was there from the start, he now recognizes, but at that time, the Air Force had no available chaplain slots. He briefly considered a chaplain’s role in another branch of the military – the U.S. Navy – but felt that was not the right direction to go.
Instead, he served a Covenant church in Rockford area, also working as a volunteer chaplain for both the police department and the local hospital. “Crisis intervention was appealing – I felt the pleasure of God in those moments,” Lockett recalls, “and I think that helped me to be a better pastor.”
As the family grew, so did his ministry perspective that took him to Audubon Park Covenant Church in Orlando, Florida, not far from Patrick Air Force Base. “I was frustrated that I couldn’t get work as a volunteer chaplain,” he recalled. “The hospitals and law enforcement agencies all had paid full-time staff. It was lacking a chance to do volunteer chaplaincy that partly drove me toward the Air Force Reserve.” Lockett served as an Air Force Reserve chaplain for the last nine months while in Orlando, working during his off hours and vacation time to complete his reserve training.
“My wife said she saw joy in my eyes,” Lockett said, and it was at that moment the couple knew that chaplain ministry was to become his lifelong call.
“I remember one time standing on a rocket launching tower where a rocket was being readied for flight. As the tower slowly backed away for the launch, I was approached by a young serviceman who needed counseling,” Lockett recalled. The man’s marriage was on the verge of breaking up and he was desperate. “These folks often see me as a last-ditch effort to get help,” he noted.
“Then, a second person came up and also needed some guidance – his father was a pastor and had been pushing him towards a ministry career path, and the man wanted to talk about the whole area of being called as a pastor. Within moments, a third fellow approached me and wanted to talk – I felt overwhelmed. God was making a difference just by my being available.”
As a chaplain, part of his job is to represent individuals of all faiths – or those with no faith at all. “It is not my job to meet the needs represented by those varied faiths, but rather to see that their needs are met, to guarantee their freedom of religion – or in some cases, their freedom from religion,” he explains. “But, without question, the favorite part of my job is that I get to be a paid missionary and get to tell people about Jesus and see Christ at work in their lives.”
Lockett spends most of his time stateside at the Abilene base, but he is periodically deployed to various theaters of action, most recently working with military personnel involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He was stationed on an island in the Indian Ocean, home to a Fighter Wing that included all major activities from aircraft maintenance to pilots, medical personnel, security forces and other related support services. “Our mission wasn’t just maintaining, but flying daily missions into Iraq and Afghanistan.”
His first deployment came following the Gulf War when he was stationed for a few months in Saudi Arabia. “While the military was still technically involved in the post-Gulf War mop up, I was part of Operation Southern Watch with the mission of preventing Iraq from flying in the southern no-fly zone.” He worked closely with the troops, counseling them and building relationships – and sharing faith whenever possible. “Lots of personal and family relationships were strained and broken,” Lockett observed..
It was the building of relationships that proved difficult at times, especially with fighter pilots who Lockett describes as “type-A people, self-reliant and difficult to know.” He said they are often superstitious and reluctant to talk with chaplains. To reach them, he would fly aboard fuel tankers on refueling missions and use a favorite hook – a camera – to reach out to them.
“I would go to the rear of the aircraft where I could see the fighter being refueled,” Lockett explained. Because of the close proximity of the two airplanes, Lockett could easily see the faces of the fighter pilots inside their cockpits. “Often they would give me a ‘thumbs up’ as I snapped pictures of them” – and at times he would be asked to pray for them. Once back on the ground, Lockett would go to a one-hour photo development outlet and then take the prints with him as he introduced himself to the pilots.
“I also flew C130 Hercules craft as a means of getting to know the pilots better,” the chaplain noted. One crew regularly asked him to fly with them – “I guess I was sort of like their rabbits foot,” he quipped.
He recalled another time in Kuwait when a craft carrying 10 enlisted soldiers landed – the pilots and other crew deplaned to take car of paperwork, but the enlisted people remained aboard with Lockett. “They wanted to know the difference between the beliefs of Islam and Christianity,” Lockett recalled. He had his bible and began sharing the gospel story with the soldiers. Two eventually came to faith.
The island in the Indian Ocean where Lockett was deployed serves as a base for repairing and servicing the aircraft used in the various theaters of action, especially the long-range B-1 bombers. “Crews were flying to Iraq and Afghanistan over some pretty dangerous stuff,” the chaplain said. “Before the flights, I briefed the crews. And after I had finished reading scripture, I would encourage them not to trust in the bomb or the plane, but to instead trust in the Lord. It was a way of bringing the scripture into their lives.” Following his return to the States, Lockett said several told him that following those briefings, in the hours they spent in the planes traveling to and from targets, the crews would discuss what the chaplain had said. Some would spend time reading the bibles he generously handed out.
“I was not judging the war per se,” Lockett explained, “but rather I was reminding these people that God is with them – as Psalms Chapter Three declares, ‘God is a shield around me.'”
Fear of the unknown was not the only challenge Lockett encountered in counseling those engaged in battle. Many struggled with guilt – the knowledge that the bombs they drop would kill lots of people. “How does that feel? Lockett wondered aloud. “How do they reconcile a God of love with this kind of danger and death? Am I going to get home alive? Will I make a difference in what I am doing? These are the questions on their minds. Those are the concerns they want to talk about.”
Working in stressful environments so common to the military takes a toll on the caregivers, too. How is Lockett sustained?
“I couldn’t do it like I did local ministry,” he explains. “In the military – at least in the Air Force – I am stationed with other chaplains – five Protestant and one Catholic. We have a mutual care network offering prayer and support. People will take care of my wife, Peggy, and my children, and we will do the same for the others. It is a great network. It also offers an opportunity to be brutally honest with each other – we can be real with one another knowing we will receive the comfort and support we need.”
Deployments for chaplains usually last four months and are scheduled on average every 15 months. Lockett thought he could be deployed again as early as this December, even though he had already been deployed for four months earlier this year. However, needs at the home base were given higher priority. He expects his next deployment could come in September 2005.
(Editor’s note: to read an earlier story containing additional detail on other deployments of Covenant chaplains, please see Two Additional Covenant Chaplains Headed to Iraq.)
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
