Tommy Preston

Chaplains of the Army, Navy and Air Force increasingly will work side by side and must work toward the total health of the soldier, Col. Tommy Preston said.

The Chattanooga native, who will become the liaison between the U.S. Department of Defense and the chief of chaplains of the military branches, said the joint nature of war demands such close partnerships.

"I think it's a good move that we come to know each other a little better," said Col. Preston, 56, who will assume his new position as executive director of the Armed Forces Chaplain Board at the Pentagon on July 1. "We'll be looking at different ways we can support one another and provide the best religious support across all the services."

The spike in suicides among Army and Marine Corps personnel over the past year points to the need for the armed forces to emphasize the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs of its soldiers, he said.

"We find (spiritual health) is a big part of keeping soldiers healthy and ready for combat and ready for the jobs they have to do," said Col. Preston, a Presbyterian chaplain by denomination.

Navy Capt. John Frusti, the man he will replace, said the position of executive director rotates among the Army, Navy and Air Force. The director is nominated by his respective service branch and must be approved by the office of the secretary of defense for a three-year term, he said.

The specific reasons the former Chattanoogan was chosen are an internal Army matter, Capt. Frusti said.

The need for chaplains hasn't waned, Col. Preston said, and the basic skills needed for the job haven't changed since he became an active-duty Army chaplain 24 years ago. But the nature of war has changed.

"When I came in, we weren't thinking about prolonged wars such as we're involved in now," said Col. Preston, who was the 4th Infantry Division chaplain before being nominated for his new position.

Today, he said, there is a "terrible cost, not only in lives but also in the emotional pressure put on soldiers and their families" due to the number and length of deployments.

One chaplain who worked under Col. Preston in the 4th Infantry Division spent 27 months of a 36-month tour in Iraq, he said.

"Now if that had happened to me when I first came in the Army, I might be giving (an Army career) second thoughts," he said.

To facilitate the various branches of service working together, all chaplain training eventually will be done in one location at Fort Jackson, S.C., he said.

A training headquarters is being built, but no date has been set for joint training to begin, he said.

CALLED TO SERVE

Col. Preston, whose father, Henry, was pastor at East Ridge Baptist Church for 35 years, said he felt a calling toward chaplaincy when he elected to join a chaplain candidate program during seminary.

Over the years, he has served in Iraq during Desert Shield and Desert Storm and again during the present conflict.

The 1976 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate also served tours in Arizona; Georgia; Fort Campbell, Ky.; Korea; and Germany.

"We were praying for him to come back to the states," said his mother, 92-year-old Katherine Preston. "We didn't realize it would come this way."

Today, Huey helicopters have given way to Blackhawks, and unarmored humvees have been replaced by fully armored assault vehicles, Col. Preston said, but a chaplain is still a vital cog on the battlefield.

"The most fulfilling ministry experiences I've had as both a civilian pastor and as an Army chaplain have been combat deployments," said the married father of three and grandfather of seven. "That has affirmed what I believe is a calling from God to this type of ministry."

The job at the Pentagon will limit his battlefield contact, he said, but it won't prevent the opportunity to minister to soldiers.

"Usually, as you move up in rank and position and seniority, the chances of dealing with soldiers on a daily basis gets less and less. Every chaplain misses that," he said.

"I know here at the Pentagon, wherever I go, when somebody sees the cross, they're interested in talking," he said. "That happens wherever you go."