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© 2013 KentuckyGuard
Story by Staff Sgt. Vicky Spesard, 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Senior Master Sgt. Billy Lain, a chaplain’s assistant with the 123ard Airlift Wing, Louisville, Kentucky, prepares for the Catholic Mass at the base November 22, 2014, as part of his normal duties. Lain, who will retire soon, is now the “chaplain” of his own church in rural Indiana. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Vicky Spesard)
KENTUCKY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, LOUISVILLE, Ky.-Senior Master Sgt. Billy Lain has been providing support to the chaplains of the 123rd Airlift Wing, Louisville, Kentucky, for the past 13 years, serving in the role of chaplains’ assistant. Now, he will have the opportunity to move from the serving side of the chapel to leading a chapel of his own.
Lain is the new pastor for the Tell City Church of Christ in Tell City, Indiana, a small town of approximately 2,000 people, where he will minister full-time upon his retirement from the Air Guard in April 2015.
Having a mechanical background in his youth, the chaplains’ corps was not Lain’s first choice of occupations in the Air Force.
“During my active duty days in 1978, I did electronic maintenance, then switched to supply during my short stint in the Army National Guard,” Lain explained. “I didn’t get to the chaplains program until after I came to the Kentucky Air Guard after an 18 year break in service.”
An occupational specialty move that Lain found challenging.
“I thought the school for this job would be a breeze compared to what I already had been through,” he said. “Boy, was I wrong.”
Lain’s duties require him to be intricately familiar with several different worship preferences recognized by the Air Force. He helps to facilitate ministry supplies needed to worship, ensures worship is accessible to Airmen and works to identify and meet the needs of the base chaplains. He has also been deployed to several different areas around the United States and overseas locations where he takes on the additional role of ensuring the safety of the chaplain he is assigned to.
“It is clearly evident how my role here has prepared me for my new job,” Lain emphasized. “My time here in the Guard has been invaluable; the life lessons, priceless.”
Invaluable service to the Guard is only one of the many reasons why Lt. Col. James Ehrman, 123rd Airlift Wing Chaplain, will miss him when Lain retires.
“Over the past years, working with Billy, we have been a team,” Ehrman said. “He has never hesitated to give support as needed. He is very humble and is ethic of service stands out. I have always thought of us as a team with a strong trust level.
“He will have no trouble going from a support role to a leadership role,” Ehrman continued. “His having been a leader here will make him a stronger leader in his church.”
Lain began his involvement in the church, which has a congregation of approximately 50 parishioners, as a volunteer, then to an elder and then into the pastoral position when the opening became available. He is currently working as the pastor now, but will completely move into the job when his duties here have ended.
“The church community has been very supportive of my role in the Air Guard and are very excited to have me come on board,” Lain explained. “I will definitely miss the involvement I have here with the people at the base, but I know there are needs on the home front as well.”
Story and photos by Staff Sgt. Scott Raymond, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs
The Kentucky National Guard’s Strong Bonds Program offers military couples the opportunity to spend quality time together, away from home, with instruction on bettering foundations and communication in their marriage. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Raymond)
CORBIN, Ky. — Of the many challenges Service members face, a difficult marriage should not be one of them. The chaplains of the Kentucky National Guard have been working to correct those issues since 2005 when Kentucky began participating in the Army’s Strong Bonds Program. Since then more than 400 Kentucky couples have benefitted from the training workshops.
The Kentucky program continued its work in the quiet surroundings of Cumberland Falls State Park where 26 couples gathered April 26-28, 2013 for the Eight Habits to a Successful Marriage.
“Strong Bonds is a chaplain facilitated program that builds resilient Soldiers and family members by teaching relationship and communication skills,” said Chaplain (Maj.) Jerry Shacklett. “The program has been proven to help individuals reduce stress and build resiliency. The Kentucky Chaplain Corps facilitates several different curriculums in a weekend workshop format for singles, married couples, and families.”
The instruction for the eight habits weekend provides a more in depth look at some skills to improve communication and priorities in a relationship. A follow-up to the preparation course, the eight habits include discussions on strengthening the foundation of a marriage and building with the proper skills and team work.
The weekend on the Cumberland River set the couples away from it all. Strong Bonds instructor Donna Bentley said that only helps with the idea of the weekend.
Chaplain (Maj.) Bill Draper conducts a class during a Strong Bonds weekend at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in Corbin, Ky., April 28, 2013. National Guard couples gathered at the park for three days of instruction on improving their marriages. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Raymond)
“Some Strong Bond training areas are in a remote location with limited cell service, so another disconnect from everyday life
distractions,” she said. “The classes offer the couples to open up with feelings that ask the question of what they want their marriage to stand for, thus offering talking points. The most important is the opportunity for couples to set aside a weekend at the different stages of deployment to make a connection outside of their everyday life styles. ”
As with all Strong Bonds programs, the primary purpose is to allow couples the chance to focus on their marriage, whether it has issues or not. Some participants at the event have been married for 20-plus years, others only 11 months, like Kierre Brown and his wife, Samantha. Brown wasn’t going to let the newlywed phase give his marriage a false sense of lasting security.
“My wife was under the impression that we attended it as just a weekend getaway. We don’t get those much,” said Brown. “But in actuality I pushed for us to go because I want our marriage to last more than my wife may realize. So I felt that if there was anything out there that could help keep our marriage as strong as it is now I was going to do it.”
For Emilie and Cody Stagner, the getaway was a last chance to connect before deployment. Cody deployed with the 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment just a few days later. They both felt it was a great opportunity to build more strength, trust and communication in their marriage.
“As a military wife facing a deployment for the first time, I think Strong Bonds has helped us communicate more effectively, which is important during a time of deployment,” said Emilie. “This program is a great chance to get away and build each other up as a couple. The tools we learned this weekend will be handy to have not only during deployment but afterwards as well.”
The chaplains of the Kentucky Guard see the weekends and the courses as a win-win for all involved.
“Strong Bonds is a key program for commanders because it strengthens the readiness of the Soldier and therefore the readiness of the unit,” said Draper. “It teaches communications skills that make for more resilient and long lasting relationships.”
For more information contact Chaplain (Maj.) Jerry Shacklett at 502-607-1232 or the state chaplain office at 502-607-1729, or you can email him at jerry.l.shacklett2.mil@mail.mil.
For more information on the Army Strong Bonds Program, click here.
By Master Sgt. Phil Speck, 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Chaplain (Col.) David Graetz, Kentucky Joint Forces Headquarters chaplain, answers questions from fellow chaplains, chaplain candidates, and assistants during the annual Joint Chaplaincy Corps Training Conference held at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base on Oct. 15. The corps uses the conference to prepare for upcoming events, new programs and policy changes such as the recent repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Jason Ketterer)
KENTUCKY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, LOUISVILLE, Ky. — More than 40 chaplains, chaplain candidates and assistants from the Kentucky Army and Air National gathered here Oct. 15 for the annual Joint Chaplaincy Corps Training Conference.
The meeting is held at the beginning of every fiscal year to prepare the corps for upcoming events, new programs and policy changes such as the recent repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, said Chaplain (Col.) David Graetz , Joint Force Headquarters chaplain and the state chaplain for the Army Guard.
The chaplains conduct other training throughout the year, but this conference is the only one to include both Army and Air Guard troops.
“We want to make sure both sides of the house know what’s going on to make sure we all are on the same sheet of music,” Graetz said.
Master Sgt. Billy Lain, a chaplain assistant for the 123rd Airlift Wing, said the conference allowed him to gain a better understanding of how his Army counterparts function.
1st Lt. Mark Slaughter, a Kentucky Army National Guard chaplain candidate and Yellow Ribbon coordinator for the Louisville region, and Spc. Nathan Smith, a chaplain assistant for the 2/138th Headquarters Battalion, share a smile during the annual Joint Chaplaincy Corps Training Conference held at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base on Oct. 15. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Jason Ketterer)
“The main benefit of working with our Army brethren is that it gives us a good working knowledge of how they operate and what the Army does,” Lain said.
One of the many of the events discussed was the Strong Bonds program, which sponsors marriage retreats and social events for single Soldiers and Airmen. The program educates troops about how to better manage the conflicts of balancing military and home life. It also helps Soldiers and Airmen prepare for lengthy deployments and re-establish relationships with family members after coming home. The program is administered by chaplains, assistants and candidates from both the Army and the Air Guard.
The conference also featured breakout sessions so the chaplains could meet with their individual staff members, and so Chaplain Graetz could meet with chaplain candidates to review their evaluations — something that normally is done by mail or over the phone.
“This also allows us have some face time together, get to know one another, get to know who’s out there,” said Graetz, who also is chief chaplain for the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Louisville. “Otherwise we would be out there as lone rangers doing our own thing.
“The Chaplaincy isn’t here for ourselves, it’s here for the needs of our Soldiers and our Airmen,” he added. “This conference is about how we can work together, assign the right chaplains to the right units, how we can coordinate our retreats and our single Soldier and Airmen events, and how we can do this in the best possible manner to take care of our servicemen and women.”
