Chaplain patrols land and sea

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Steve Lewis
  • 512th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  It's a Wednesday morning in August when 512th Airlift Wing Chaplain (Capt.) Barry Ball arrives at a farm tucked away in a corn field. He parks his yellow pickup truck and gets into a forest green vehicle with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources emblem affixed to the passenger side door. 

He turns on his hand-held two-way radios and heads toward the dock in St. Michael's, Md., where his police boat is anchored. Over the radio, he hears the dispatcher speak about illegal crabbing activity reported in the waters off of Tilghman Island; he is asked to investigate. 

He transmits a "10-4" into the radio, acknowledging the communication. 

During the week, Captain Ball's silver bars are traded in for the two yellow stripes of corporal sewn to his tan MDNR uniform. His job this particular Wednesday is to find illegal crabbers. 

Recreational crabbing in Maryland is not authorized on Wednesdays, and part of his job is to enforce the law, said the captain, who began working as an officer for MDNR in October of 1998. 

"In the beginning I was a volunteer chaplain for MDNR before I became a corporal," he said. 

As a volunteer chaplain, Captain Ball assisted MDNR in death notifications and also spent time consoling families during times when the department searched for drowning victims. 

"The more time I spent as a volunteer chaplain, the more I enjoyed working with department," he said. 

After two years of volunteer service with MDNR, he was offered a full-time position. Hired as a corporal, his duties are to patrol the land and sea and ensure natural resource laws and regulations are being followed. 

"Although the department expected me to work as a corporal, they still needed a chaplain to be with families and provide death notifications," said the chaplain. "I was happy to still be able to minister." 

Moving out into the waters surrounding Tilghman Island on his white police patrol motor boat, Corporal Ball has one hand on his two-way radio and the other steers the boat slowly away from the docks. Powering up the motor, he speeds through the water as the front of the boat splashes through the choppy seas underneath. He begins his search for the reported illegal crabbing. 

Enjoying his duties as a corporal for MDNR, the chaplain said there is no routine to his day-to-day activities, which makes his job interesting. 

"It's never the same thing twice," he said. "There are so many different factors to the job." 

In the warmer months, the chaplain said he spends most of his time out on the water doing anything from homeland security, promoting boating safety, natural resource conservation to supporting other departments with drug interdiction. 

"During the winter, I'm out in the woods with hunters, which can have its dangers," he said. 

Hunters have fallen out of tree stands and have had heart attacks resulting in death, he said. When this occurs, he steps forward as a chaplain in his dual role with the MDNR. 

This commitment to service is further displayed in his Reserve career as he sacrifices what little free time he has to carry out his military obligation. 

"With my job, you get one weekend off a month during the summer, and my one weekend is spent as a full-time chaplain on a UTA," he said. 

For the captain, being a chaplain during the UTA can be drastically different than working as a corporal. One of the biggest differences is as a state officer he is required to carry a 9 mm pistol. As a chaplain, this is prohibited. Department of Defense policy identifies chaplains as non-combatants, which means they are not authorized to carry a firearm. 

"Barry's never needed a weapon to disarm anyone - his genuine concern, his sense of humor, and his engaging style make him the perfect chaplain in any situation," said 512th AW Chaplain (Lt. Col.) John Groth, who is Chaplain Ball's supervisor. 

Back on the choppy seas, the morning is coming to a close and Corporal Ball has not come across any illegal crabbers. As he makes his way around the waters off of Tilghman Island, the dispatcher informs him the person who possibly was in the middle of the illegal activity had gone back inland. 

As tomorrow brings another unpredictable day of work for the corporal, one thing remains constant - Chaplain Ball's call to faith is a motivating force, whether he's delivering a sermon or patrolling the land and sea.