MacDill AFB hosts first joint Clergy Day

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Peter Dean
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing/Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Knowing that maintaining MacDill's spiritual health takes a team effort, the Air Force Reserve Command's 927th Air Refueling Wing, the Active Duty's 6th Air Mobility Wing, the United States Central Command and the Special Operations Command Central joined forces March 9, to host more than two dozen religious leaders from Tampa and the surrounding communities.

In an event that was the first of its kind for MacDill Air Force Base, the religious influencers spent their day learning the spiritual needs of the members of the U.S. Military.

"Today was a manifestation of a year's worth of work, to reach out to our community and invite clergy of all faiths to come and see what we do, as well as accessing them as resources in the community, said Chaplain (Maj.) William Brown, 927 ARW.  "It is critical to ensure we have a broad spectrum of spiritual care for our military members and their families."

On July 1, 2010, Air Mobility Command launched Comprehensive Airman Fitness as a new approach to taking care of oneself and others by focusing on Airmen and their families' physical, social, mental and spiritual wellness.

"The vast majority of us in senior leadership have a faith that we fall back on, that gives us a moral compass, I don't know if it's the majority, but a huge portion of the youngsters coming in do not," Said Col. Andre Briere, 6 AMW vice commander. "Getting involved in these young Airmen's lives is the best thing you can do for them."

Throughout the day chaplains from around MacDill echoed the same message to the visiting clergy.

"There are more than 5,000 people in those two buildings across the way and that's just CENTCOM we have 38 different units on base, and they all have families and many live in the neighborhoods," said Chaplain (Col.) Jeff Watters, CENTCOM.   "That's where you come in, you also reach out to them, we've been at this [war] for 13 years and there's a commutative effect that has on our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines."

The message of the day left a lasting memory and a call for action on the visiting clergy.

"We have a high respect for the military and the men and women who serve in the defense of our country, I really do appreciate this day and you opening up your doors to us, I really believe we are living in perils times and we need to be fostering better relationships between each other," Said Pastor David DiPietro, Faith Assembly, Saint Petersburg, Fla.