MCCHORD FIELD, Washington -- The 446th Airlift Wing Chaplain Office welcomed a former Soldier as the newest member of its team September 12th, 2015.
After serving 12 combined years in the Army, Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve, 1st Lt. Karl Heitman has stepped away from his Army roots to start a new career as an Air Force Reserve chaplain. To him, the Air Force was an opportunity for change.
"I appreciated the model of the Air Force chaplaincy," Heitman said. "The Army is different."
In the Army, every battalion has a chaplain that is integrated into the staff and lead by the battalion commander, Heitman said. In the Air Force, chaplains work with other chaplains. This is beneficial because they are better able to understand and support each other.
"That's what I felt was right for me," Heitman said.
Originally from Chicago, Heitman started his military career as infantry in the Army stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. He served a four-year term and participated in one 12-month deployment to Iraq during that time. Afterwards, he transitioned to the Alaska National Guard where he worked in an Active Guard Reserve position as a supply sergeant. When his term was up, he ended his enlisted career as an E-6 and commissioned as an officer in the Army Reserve. During this time, he held a position as a chaplain candidate and worked towards his Master of Divinity Degree from Master's Seminary in Sun Valley, California. After job shadowing the 446th AW head chaplain, Lt. Col. Pierre Allegre, Heitman submitted the paperwork to join the team.
"I wanted to be a chaplain because I believe spiritual health is the most important," Heitman said. "The spiritual realm is what answers life's most important questions. It gives people hope; it gives people a reason to live; and it gives people purpose in life. I believe that's where I can help people."
Because of his vast range of experiences, Allegre believes Heitman will be a valuable asset to the 446th AW.
"Being prior enlisted and prior Army, he brings a new perspective to our chaplaincy," Allegre said.
Heitman's experience in the Army should help him to interface more easily with the joint environment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Allegre said. His experience as a pastor and preacher at the Carnation Bible Church translates to his ministry skills in the Reserve.
"I think even though it's a different mission and a different culture, my enlisted time still helps me relate to the enlisted folks who are out there doing the dirty work," said Heitman.
Based on his experience, Heitman has some idea of the type of chaplain he'd like to be.
"The good thing about the Army experience is the chaplain goes where his unit goes," said Heitman. "If the unit goes to the field and sleeps on the ground, the chaplain goes with them. When the unit goes on deployment, the chaplain is expected to go to the [Forward Operating Base], go on missions, and interact with the religious leaders in the combat zone.
"I'm not going to go be the chaplain that sits in the office and waits for people to come. I'm going to get out there and see what people do."
Heitman's wish will be granted since having three chaplains in the office now increases the abilities of the chaplain team to reach out to the wing.
"Now that we have the ability to provide more localized religious support rather than everyone coming to us we might actually go to the squadrons and provide short services," said Allegre. "We're going to explore getting better coverage not only with visitation in terms of our ministry of presence, but we'll also explore opportunities for us to provide services in the workplace. We want to be more mobile with our services."