(Tribune News Service) — U.S. Army Maj. David Hicks has been a military chaplain for 16 of his 18 years of military service.

He is currently deputy garrison chaplain at Redstone Arsenal in a career that has included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He has also served at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Forts Lee and Eustis in Virginia and Fort Huachuca in Arizona. He also served in Germany.

Hicks and his wife Maureen have three daughters, including one who is a military spouse with two children.

He recently participated in a question-and-answer session with the Lede.

What influenced you to become a chaplain?

I grew up in a military town. I grew up around Fort Knox in Kentucky. I was always in church with military members. When I got the call to ministry, I was going to church with a lot of military members, so that piqued my interest in going into the Chapel Corps. And then I worked with a lot of retirees at a place called the Department of Juvenile Justice in the state of Kentucky.

One thing led to another. It kept popping up, so I applied. I got it. I felt like the Lord was leading me to do it. Got the call to come on active duty and have been doing it ever since.

What’s all involved with being a chaplain on the arsenal?

There are many different chaplains here. We all have a different role. But I’m the deputy garrison chaplain, so I work with the senior chaplain. I’m kind of his right-hand man. I do resource management here for the chapel. I’m also the co-pastor of the 11 a.m. service. I do plans and operations on a day-to-day basis.

We have a lot of counseling services with soldiers, civilians. Family members will come and seek counseling services. We do a lot with spiritual resiliency.

We do a monthly spiritual resiliency lunch. We try to reach out to soldiers, civilians and family members. Spiritual resiliency is finding what God would have for you as you are seeking to bounce back from a difficult situation. We share a little bit on how to do that. We feed them and have a good time with them.

As a chaplain, we have three tenant responsibilities from the Chaplain Corps. We are to care for the wounded, nurture the living and honor the dead. That’s what we do on a day-to-day basis. I’m doing a funeral tomorrow (May 27) for a retired first sergeant. Those come up quite a bit. I don’t know who he is as far as a person, but I’ve been working with his family this week to honor the life and service of this particular soldier.

I think a chaplain is very important to the military. Not to toot our own horns, but I don’t know where they would be without us. We are the calm in the storm.

Jo Anita Miley, USAG Public Affairs at Redstone Arsenal, said the arsenal received a call from a veteran’s family who were concerned about a veteran who was in a local health care facility.

“He didn’t have one (a chaplain) in this area,” she said. “They wanted to know if any chaplain on Redstone would be available to reach out to this veteran, he was actually a Marine. We reached out to Bicentennial Chapel. Without asking any questions, Chaplain Hicks volunteered to support that request. The chaplains do a lot in the community, too.”

She said the arsenal received a call from the family “thanking us for finding someone who was willing to reach out and help them in their time of need even though Chaplain Hicks didn’t even know this family.”

As far as your work as a chaplain, is there any experience that you’ll remember most?

I’ll refer back to my two deployments. I spent a little over a year in Iraq. I also spent about that amount of time in Afghanistan. I was the only chaplain on the FOB both times. FOB stands for forward operating base. I got to minister to many different people all over the world. We had different nations represented there through contracts, anyone from Australia to Africa.

There were many people I got to work with, minister to and preach to. I saw several people come to the Lord. That was a very unique experience to me.

What are your thoughts on Memorial Day having deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan?

The average Joe Citizen may think of Memorial Day as a barbecue and beer. Those of us who know better know that it is much more than that. We know it is a time to remember those who went ahead of us and paid the ultimate sacrifice.

We are the land of the free because of the brave. Many of the brave went to war, raised the right hand and didn’t get to come back home. I’m sharing a story this Sunday about a second lieutenant that I had in Iraq. He was a hard charger, great soldier, great family man, and he didn’t make it back. He’s one of many.

Memorial Day means a great deal to me. I take a step back and think about all those who shed their blood for our freedom. I’m thankful for that.

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