Liberty Wing host Clergy Day 2006

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Paul Flipse
  • 512th Airlift Wing
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Why do you volunteer for the military," asked Tony Stephens, a rusty-haired pastor from southern Pennsylvania. The question was directed at a half dozen or so uniformed reservists sitting among more than 30 civilian pastors, priests, ministers and bishops who toured Dover Air Force Base Aug. 14 as part of the base's Clergy Day. 

Every two years, reservists can invite their local pastors to visit the base to learn exactly why--and how--they serve their country. 

So, on a muggy, late-summer Monday, clergy from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware descended on Dover for the day-long event. Wing Chaplain (Lt. Col.) John Groth, whose angular, 6-foot, 7-inch frame puts him closer to heaven than most, played shepherd to the flock of visiting evangelists. 

The day's activities included a C-5 flight with an air-to-air refueling by a Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., KC-135R, a visit to the memorial affairs building and a trip to a field chapel that simulated conditions military clergy face while sermonizing in Southwest Asia. 

During the flight, clerics took turns visiting the flight deck, where they got bird's-eye views of the refueling and the vast, azure sky. Marcus Matthews, a soft-spoken bishop from the United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, used a spiritual simile to describe the ride. 

"I fly all the time," he said. "But never like this." 

As for Pastor Stephens' question of why reservists are compelled to volunteer, the answer came from Lt. Col. Craig LaFave, chief of the C-17 program integration office here. 

"I do it for God and country," the colonel said. "I do it to protect our way of life."