Chaplain (Lt. Cmdr.) Seth Phillips holds his a cup of espresso in the left hand and some quenching water in the right Friday morning after a nearly hourlong run with his Espresso Harriers running team members. After three years in Naples, Rabbi Phillips is set to leave the base for his new assignment in Annapolis, Md., at the U.S. Naval Academy. (Sandra Jontz/ Stars and Stripes)
NAPLES, Italy — There are great chaplains, and then there’s Seth Phillips.
"He’s one in a million," said Cmdr. Stephen Schutt, executive officer of Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy.
"He’s the guy who is always available for everyone, doesn’t matter the subject or the person, he’s always there. After talking with him, you walk away with a better feeling, and often walk away with a smile on your face."
After three years in Naples, Rabbi Phillips bids arrivederci to Naples, and to those whom he says were part the best tour in his 17 years of service.
"It’s been a great adventure, I’d say the best work I’ve done in my Navy career," said Phillips, 57.
Phillips arrived in Naples touting himself as "the approachable rabbi."
"I think I’ve lived up to that," he said Friday, moments after completing his usual morning run with the Espresso Harriers, a local running club that meets about 6 a.m. weekdays for jogs in and around Naples — runs measured not in miles or minutes, but by the number of cafes they hit along the way. Friday was a one-cafe run.
"I figured no one would know what to do with a rabbi, and I wanted people to know they could approach me, no matter what," said Phillips, one of 12 rabbis in the Navy.
He more than lived up to the moniker, said Todd Green, a civilian engineer with Naval Computer and Telecommunications Naples and a practicing Buddhist who often sought Phillips’ guidance.
"If there are Buddhists in Italy, they’re hard to find," Green said. "I went to him for spiritual counsel, or just an ear to listen."
"He gets out and meets people," added Bob Hurley, a retired chief petty officer and now civilian finance officer for the Navy in Naples. "There is no person who is not welcomed, and when you talk to him for 10 minutes, it feels like you’ve been with him for 10 years."
That’s a good thing.
Phillips is known as the quirky chaplain. He’s known for his benediction speeches that are off-the-cuff, rarely serious and full of quips. He’s known for his passion for marathon running, and has hit the pavement in 14 countries, running in 10 marathons in the past three years.
To sailors, civilians and their families, he leaves this piece of advice: "Reach out to each other, and take advantage of your surroundings."
Friday’s final run drew a small crowd of four regular runners of the Espresso Harriers (in part because of a misprint on a flier, mistakenly announcing the location of the run.)
Phillips now heads to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., where he’ll be a battalion chaplain serving 600 midshipmen, and practicing in the "historical" Commodore Uriah P. Levy Center and Jewish Chapel, named after the first Jewish commodore of the U.S. Navy and veteran of the War of 1812. At the time, commodore was the highest rank, equivalent to today’s admiral.
"We might as well close down [the base] and head out," Green joked when asked his thoughts on Phillips’ impending departure. "What’s the point?"
