FALLUJAH, IRAQ (April 4, 2008) – No one can accuse Anne Krekelberg of searching out an easy ministry from which to retire. In 2007, she requested an assignment that she knew would take her to Iraq.<\/p>\n
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US Navy Chaplain Commander Krekelberg asked to be assigned to the 22nd Naval Construction Regiment in Gulfport, Mississippi, because \u201cIt would be my last tour in the navy before I retired, and [we] would inevitably be deployed on the ground in Iraq. I couldn\u2019t think of a better way to end my 20-year navy career than with the Seabees.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was deployed three weeks later and served a first tour of duty from February through June 2007 at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, where she was detailed with a battalion assigned to guard more than 20,000 detainees. Krekelberg recently returned for her second tour, and now serves at Camp Fallujah. She will retire from active duty August 1.<\/p>\n
Ordained and endorsed through the Evangelical Covenant Church, Krekelberg has served in a number of positions, from being the command chaplain on the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship, to her current position as a regimental chaplain on the ground.<\/p>\n
Krekelberg says being a female chaplain has not hindered her ministry. \u201cI never gave much thought to the fact that I am a female chaplain\u2014I am a navy chaplain, ready to do whatever it takes to provide ministry, encouragement and\u2014if I\u2019m lucky\u2014put a little laughter into someone\u2019s day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat impacts my ministry more than my gender is my age,\u201d says Krekelberg, who is regarded for her sense of humor. \u201cI was commissioned at age 39. Now, at 59, I\u2019m humping six miles in all my battle rattle with male colleagues half my age\u2014and trying unsuccessfully to get them to sing Girl Scout songs as we march.\u201d<\/p>\n
Krekelberg adds, \u201cMy brain still thinks I\u2019m 29; my body definitely reminds me I\u2019m not. But every ache and Motrin are worth it, as I\u2019m still having a blast playing in the sand.\u201d<\/p>\n
And dust. In a letter home, Krekelberg wrote, \u201cA lot of dirt has blown across the desert [since her last deployment]\u2014and I think it all settled in Fallujah. Here the dirt is fine: a powder that sticks to nose hairs and coats the lungs; settles on tree leaves and collects under your bed. Sweep, and it fluffs in little puffs, only to settle somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dirt has settled, and conditions have improved in Fallujah somewhat. \u201cIn contrast to Bucca\u2014and in comparison to just eight months ago\u2014Fallujah now feels relatively safe,\u201d Krekelberg says. But of course the danger is still very real. \u201cThe IEDs are still out there, thus any and all convoys are at risk, and there is still the threat of incoming mortar fire. Our Seabees who work \u2018outside the wire\u2019\u2014projects away from any Forward Operating Base\u2014are always in harm\u2019s way.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Krekelberg adds that she has seen signs of progress. \u201cOur medical personnel are able to conduct clinics in urban areas,\u201d she says. \u201cOn a convoy from Ramadi to Fallujah, I witnessed areas that once were strongholds for insurgents now rebuilding homes, schools, and businesses. There are humanitarian projects ramping up to focus on women and children, literacy, and health. Our Seabees are drilling wells, paving roads, and building bridges\u2014both literally and figuratively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ministering to the guards during her first tour in Bucca was vital, Krekelberg says. \u201cThe best way to describe detainee operations is to use the basketball metaphor, \u2018full court press,\u2019 \u201d she explains. \u201cIt is a 24-7 job with little relief.\u201d<\/p>\n
The constant potential for violence strains the emotion and spirit. \u201cThe periodic incoming mortar fire did not compare to the constant threat just on the other side of the compound fence,\u201d she says. \u201cDetainees have nothing to do all day but sit and think about ways to inflict injury or death, and will take any and all opportunity to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe toll and stress on the guards is tremendous,\u201d Krekelberg says. Guards must remain constantly alert \u201clest you, or your shipmate, be injured by a sling-shot rock or toothbrush shank.\u201d<\/p>\n
She adds that the duty requires \u201can incredible emotional and spiritual investment. The commanding officer reminded them every day, no matter how bad the detainees were, they were to be treated with \u2018dignity and respect\u2019 at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Krekelberg, media attention that has focused on Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo has given a distorted view of the way in which detainees generally are treated. \u201cWhat Americans have seen with regard to Abu Ghraib or Gitmo is the exception and a very minute one at that,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat I witnessed at Bucca were guards who, regardless of the abuse\u2014and objects\u2014thrown at them, disciplined themselves to treat detainees with dignity and respect, day after day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Issues Krekelberg addresses are changing relationships among the troops as well as between the military personnel and people at home. When first deployed, troops experience what she calls the \u201choneymoon effect.\u201d They have begun the work for which they had spent months training. \u201cNow we\u2019re here and, for the most part, on a real high.\u201d<\/p>\n
That changes about a month into the tour. \u201cWe begin to notice that the funny expression our colleague always uses is no longer funny, and that cute little habit of tapping the spoon against the coffee cup for five minutes is no longer cute,\u201d she says. \u201cLittle spats, personality clashes, chain of command issues all become bigger than life. If these are not addressed immediately, they can spiral out of control, and unit cohesion begins to disintegrate. The chaplain has to have an eye open and an ear to the ground to make sure this doesn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Situations back home with family and girlfriends also present many needs for counsel. \u201cWe all know that in a perfect world, married people are supposed to live together,\u201d Krekelberg says. \u201cSpending six to twelve months apart is not natural. Children\u2014especially teens\u2014get angry with a parent for \u2018abandoning\u2019 them. Small children cannot grasp the situation; they only know that Mommy or Daddy isn\u2019t there when needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Military personnel often are caught in conflicting emotions, Krekelberg says. \u201cWe feel guilty that we\u2019re gone,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe can\u2019t fix the water heater when it breaks; we can\u2019t help with homework; we can\u2019t put a Band-Aid on a knee or give a hug of comfort. We can\u2019t look our loved one in the eye and know what the real truth is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get frustrated, we feel helpless and useless and, sometimes, hopeless,\u201d Krekelberg adds. \u201cWe are torn between the tremendous love we have for our family and friends and the passion we have for our country. We want, more than anything, to keep the covenant we have made to serve with honor, courage, and commitment. We want to go home, but we don\u2019t want to leave our shipmates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resolving relationships when people are 6,000 miles apart is far from easy, but not impossible, Krekelberg says. \u201cThat\u2019s why the chaplain is here\u2014to listen to what\u2019s really in a person\u2019s heart, to help overcome the hurdles, to recommend resources for family members back home, and, most importantly, to let them know there is always, always hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Krekelberg is unsure of her future after retiring from the navy. She graduated from North Park Theological Seminary in 1986 and was ordained in 1988 but has never served in a church pastoral role except for an internship. She has no plans to seek a pastorate.<\/p>\n
Still, she is looking to the future with the same enthusiastic expectation of God\u2019s leading that has characterized her military career. \u201cMy spiritual journey continues. I don\u2019t know where God will lead next, but I\u2019m sure it will be as much\u2014or more\u2014of an adventure as navy chaplaincy has been!\u201d<\/p>\n