Senior Leader Reflections

Chief of Chaplains
Director, U.S. Army Institute for Religious Leadership

Chaplain (Major General) William (Bill) Green, Jr.

Article published on: May 1, 2024 in the Chaplain Corps Journal

Read Time: < 3 mins

General Randy George, the Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA), has called us to a renewed focus on strengthening the Army profession. The recently launched Harding Project is a grassroots effort to support that focus area by renewing and strengthening the military writing in our Army professional publications (see https://mwi.westpoint.edu/ introducing-the-harding-project-renewingprofessional- military-writing/). Our U.S. Army Chaplain Corps Journal is rising to the Harding Project’s challenge.

Technologically, the goal for Army branch journals is to deliver content via twenty-first century platforms that are web-first, mobile friendly, and supported by social media. But the challenge isn’t technological alone. A robust profession supports an ongoing developmental conversation through time that benefits from multiple voices expressing a wide spectrum of carefully crafted perspectives and opinions. The Journal is one very important forum for that conversation in our branch, and the Journal’s strength comes from those of you who intentionally engage with it.

As we answer the CSA’s call to strengthen our profession, consider that the Harding Project was launched after General George read a major’s article in Military Review. Think about that: a major’s writing influenced the CSA to support an initiative to renew and strengthen military writing. What about you? What do you think we need to do differently or better in the Army Chaplain Corps and in the military chaplaincies more broadly? What’s your big idea and how will you share it with others? And how will you help hone the big ideas of others? As you answer those questions, I ask you to engage with the Journal by reading and reflecting on its content, by assessing together and debating what it means for you and your colleagues and for those in our care, and, yes, by writing and submitting articles! Extend the conversation into your brigades, divisions, and corps, and find ways to bring Journal content into your recurring training and your daily practice.

As I close, I want to extend my gratitude to this issue’s contributors. You are helping carry our branch’s developmental conversation forward, and without you there is no Journal. Thank you.

For God and Country - Live the Call!