That unapologetically belligerent prayer is offered up in the command center one day by Lt. Col. Fred Hoadley, chaplain to the 10th Mountain Division. “The Army is about killing people. I do have that clear in my mind,” says Hoadley, 47, from Wilder, Idaho. “My primary ministry is not to the institution but to the people who happen to find themselves in it. You have an opportunity to influence them for good, to build their faith. It’s an important time.
“And we are one more set of eyes on the soldiers: Are they getting fed,
are they healthy, are they getting what they need? Not to make the institution
kill better. But to ensure that it takes care of soldiers and follows the
rules on the battlefield, the Geneva Conventions. “Ninety percent
of the time it’s OK. But there are difficult moments when you need to be
there. I am a safe place for people to talk.”