Chaplain of the United States Coast GuardW
Chaplain of the United States Coast Guard

The Chaplain of the United States Coast Guard (COCG) is the senior chaplain of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and is attached to USCG headquarters in Washington, D.C. as a United States Navy Chaplain Corps officer who reports directly to the Commandant of the Coast Guard. The current Chaplain of the Coast Guard is Captain Thomas Walcott, USN.

Chaplain of the United States Marine CorpsW
Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps

The Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps (CHMC) is a position always filled by the officers serving as Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy as a "dual hatted" billet since 2000. The CHMC oversees religious ministry in the Marine Corps which one Commandant of the Marine Corps defined as "a vital function which enhances the personal, family, and community readiness of our Marines, sailors, and their families. Chaplaincy supports the foundational principle of free exercise of religion and helps to enrich the spiritual, moral and ethical fabric of the military."

Chief of Chaplains of the United States NavyW
Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy

The Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy (CHC) is the Senior Chaplain in the Navy, the Head of the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps, and the Director of Religious Ministry Support for the Department of the Navy. He or she advises the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Commandant of the Coast Guard "on all matters pertaining to religion within the Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard."

Religious program specialistW
Religious program specialist

Religious program specialist (RP) is a United States Navy rating. Religious program specialists assist naval chaplains in their duties as well as provide support to naval chaplains in developing programs to meet the needs of U.S. Navy sailors, U.S. Marines, and their families. They also act as armed bodyguards for the chaplains. RPs perform functions that do not require ordination and do no pastoral counseling; adherence to a religion is not a requirement or prerequisite to become an RP and some RPs are even atheists.

United States Navy Chaplain CorpsW
United States Navy Chaplain Corps

The Chaplain Corps of the United States Navy consists of clergy who are commissioned naval officers. Their principal purpose is "to promote the spiritual, religious, moral, and personal well-being of the members of the Department of the Navy," which includes the Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Additionally, the Chaplain Corps provides chaplains to its sister sea service, the United States Coast Guard.

Alan T. BakerW
Alan T. Baker

Rear Admiral Alan T. Baker, USN, born in Santa Ana, CA, 1956, is a retired American Navy officer who served as the 16th Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps from 2006 to 2009. Chaplain Baker was the first graduate of the United States Naval Academy and former Surface Warfare Officer to serve as a Chaplain Corps Flag Officer. Following his military career, Baker served as Directional Leader at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, a 4,000-member, multi-campus church in the San Francisco Bay Area, from 2010 to 2012. He is currently principal of Strategic Foundations where he teaches, coaches and catalyzes organizations valuing the intersection of faith, learning and leadership.

Robert McAfee BrownW
Robert McAfee Brown

Robert McAfee Brown was a Presbyterian minister, a theologian, and an activist.

Vincent R. CapodannoW
Vincent R. Capodanno

Vincent Robert Capodanno was a Roman Catholic priest and Maryknoll Missioner (M.M.) who was killed in action while serving as a United States Navy chaplain assigned to a Marine Corps infantry unit during the Vietnam War. He was a posthumous recipient of America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for heroic actions above and beyond the call of duty. The Catholic Church has declared him a Servant of God, the first of the four stages toward possible sainthood.

James Vincent CaseyW
James Vincent Casey

James Vincent Casey was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska (1957–1967) and Archbishop of Denver, Colorado (1967–1986).

Edgar Chandler (minister)W
Edgar Chandler (minister)

Rev. Dr. Edgar H. S. Chandler was a Congregational minister, U.S. Navy chaplain during World War II, leader of church organizations including the refugee resettlement division of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland and the Church Federation of Greater Chicago, and active leader in the civil rights movement who worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and others.

Doug Collins (politician)W
Doug Collins (politician)

Douglas Allen Collins is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Georgia's 9th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007, representing the 27th district, which includes portions of Hall County, Lumpkin County and White County. Collins also serves as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Walter ColtonW
Walter Colton

Rev. Walter Colton was a Chaplain for the United States Navy, the Alcalde of Monterey, and the author of Three Years in California and Deck and Port. He was also co-publisher of California's first newspaper, The Californian.

Joseph W. EstabrookW
Joseph W. Estabrook

Joseph Walter Estabrook was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services and also Titular Bishop of Flenucleta.

John Garcia GenselW
John Garcia Gensel

John Garcia Gensel (February 16, 1917- February 6, 1998) was a Lutheran minister who ministered to the Jazz community, and the creator of Jazz ministry in New York City.

Leroy GilbertW
Leroy Gilbert

Leroy Gilbert is a former officer in the United States Navy and Chaplain of the United States Coast Guard.

Joshua L. GoldbergW
Joshua L. Goldberg

Joshua Louis Goldberg was a Belarusian-born American rabbi, who was the first rabbi to be commissioned as a U.S. Navy chaplain in World War II, the first to reach the rank of Navy Captain, and the first to retire after a full active-duty career.

Margaret G. KibbenW
Margaret G. Kibben

Margaret Grun Kibben is a U.S. Presbyterian minister who served as the 26th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy. Formerly the 18th Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps (CHMC) and the Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy, Kibben was the first woman to hold each office.

Gordon KlingenschmittW
Gordon Klingenschmitt

Gordon James Klingenschmitt is an American evangelical activist, former U.S. Navy military chaplain and elected official. A Republican, he won election and served one term in the Colorado House of Representatives for the 15th district from 2015–17. Klingenschmitt narrowly lost in the 2019 Colorado Springs City Council At-Large Elections to Wayne Williams, nearly beating two incumbents Bill Murray and Tom Strand.

Edwin M. Leidel Jr.W
Edwin M. Leidel Jr.

Edwin Max "Ed" Leidel Jr. was a bishop of the Episcopal Church who served as Bishop of Eastern Michigan from 1996 to 2006 and as the Provisional Bishop of Eau Claire from 2010 to 2013.

Wes ModderW
Wes Modder

Wesley 'Wes' J. Modder is a retired Marine. He identifies his religious preference as Christian. He is a former military chaplain in the United States Navy. Modder was also occasionally an author in ETHOS, a US Navy newsletter.

Joseph T. O'CallahanW
Joseph T. O'Callahan

Joseph Timothy O'Callahan was a Jesuit priest and, during World War II, a United States Navy chaplain. He was awarded the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during and after an attack on the aircraft carrier aboard which he was serving, USS Franklin.

John O'Connor (cardinal)W
John O'Connor (cardinal)

John Joseph O'Connor was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of New York from 1984 until his death in 2000, and was created a cardinal in 1985. He previously served as a U.S. Navy chaplain, auxiliary bishop of the Military Vicariate of the United States (1979–1983), and Bishop of Scranton (1983–1984).

George S. RentzW
George S. Rentz

George Snavely Rentz was a United States Navy chaplain who served during World War I and World War II. For selfless heroism following the loss of USS Houston (CA-30) in the Battle of Sunda Strait, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross— the only Navy Chaplain to be so honored during World War II.

Arnold ResnicoffW
Arnold Resnicoff

Arnold E. Resnicoff is an American Conservative rabbi who served as a military officer and military chaplain. He served in Vietnam and Europe before attending rabbinical school. He then served as a U.S. Navy Chaplain for almost 25 years. He promoted the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and delivered the closing prayer at its 1982 dedication. In 1984 the President of the United States spoke on his eyewitness account of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. After retiring from the military he was National Director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee and served as Special Assistant to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, serving at the equivalent military rank of Brigadier General.

Abuhena SaifulislamW
Abuhena Saifulislam

Commander Abuhena Saifulislam or Abu Hena Saiful Islam,, is a Bangladeshi-American who is the first Muslim Naval Officer appointed as an imam chaplain serving with units in the Marine Corps.

Aloysius SchmittW
Aloysius Schmitt

Father Aloysius H. Schmitt was a Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, who served as a chaplain in the United States Navy at the beginning of World War II.

Brent W. ScottW
Brent W. Scott

Brent W. Scott currently serves as the 27th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy. He previously served as the 19th Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps and the Deputy Chief of Navy Chaplains.

William Nathaniel ThomasW
William Nathaniel Thomas

William Nathaniel Thomas was a US Navy chief of chaplains, described by one historian as "one of the most distinguished Chaplains ever to serve in the US Navy." Born in Mississippi and entering the navy in 1918, he became a rear admiral and was a chief of chaplains of the United States Navy (1945–1949). He was chaplain aboard the USS Madawaska, a World War I troop transport. He then served on the USS Pennsylvania, the USS Raleigh and the USS West Virginia. He served at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, as an assistant chaplain and then as command chaplain. He wrote the Prayer of the Midshipman and the Dedication in Memorial Hall at the Naval Academy.

Lester L. Westling Jr.W
Lester L. Westling Jr.

Lester Leon "Wes" Westling Jr. was an American Episcopal priest, retired U.S. Navy chaplain, Vietnam veteran, and author. His more than fifty years of ministry have included service to parishes, missionary work in the Philippines, and twenty-six years as a navy chaplain, including two assignments in Vietnam: first with the Third Marine Division medical and infantry battalions, and later as a circuit riding chaplain for 65 combat units throughout the Mekong and Bassac Rivers and along the Cambodian border.