Calm in Chaos
Chaplain Daniel Middlebrooks walks through the journey of combat with the staff of the 10th Combat Support Hospital.
“My Father in heaven has big shoulders, and I have empty hands,” says Army Chaplain (Maj.) Daniel Middlebrooks sitting in the chapel of Ibn Sina Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. It’s quiet here, away from the activity of the military hospital. Stained glass windows filter the desert sunlight casting a warm glow across the room. “I don't carry around trauma. I don't carry around hurt and pain. I take it to the Father, and I'm trying to teach the soldiers around me by my life how to do the same thing.”
The whop, whop, whop of a chopper vibrating overhead shatters the quiet. The interview stops. A concerned look settles on Middlebrooks’ face. The chaplain’s assistant, Sgt. Shawn Owens, pokes his head in the door. “Sir, we’ve got a call from the ER. They’re bringing someone in.”
Chaplain Middlebrooks excuses himself and hurries to the emergency room to wait for the wounded soldier. He knows that minutes or even seconds can mean life or death. Medics roll the soldier into the ER. He was injured when a roadside bomb exploded next to his patrol vehicle.
Chaplain Middlebrooks is there, right beside the doctors and nurses in the trauma room. He identifies himself to the patient and assures him that the hospital staff is going to take good care of him.
“At that point, I begin to pray,” says Middlebrooks. “I pray for the doctors, nurses, medics and surgeons for what they are about to do. I pray for calm in the midst of what can be great chaos.”
In addition to bringing a calm to the ER, Chaplain Middlebrooks serves as another set of eyes. He scans the scene, watching and waiting to lend a hand. With so much activity—starting IVs, checking vitals, discarding bloody bandages, hooking up machines, taking X-rays—Middlebrooks makes sure they’re not tripping over anything. He describes the teamwork in the ER as an amazing symphony.
“When the attending doctor steps in and strikes up his hand and the symphony starts, everybody plays their instrument of skill, and it is an incredible song of success. It’s amazing to watch the doctors do what God has gifted them to do.”
In the trauma room, the near dozen doctors, medics and nurses stop the bleeding and wheel him to surgery where the orthopedic surgeon will attempt to save his mangled leg.
The long journey
Located in Baghdad's International Zone, the hospital was formerly the site of an elite medical center for Saddam Hussein’s supporters. Now it’s run by the military’s elite “Mountain Medics,” of the 10th Combat Support Hospital from Fort Carson, Colorado. They provide care for U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, contractors as well as providing some Iraqi civilian care. They see the entire gamut of war, up close and personal every day.
The only way Chaplain Middlebrooks can minister to the hospital staff on a daily basis is to be in the chaos with them and experience what they’re going through. The role of the hospital chaplain is to bring calm and God’s presence to difficult moments, says Middlebrooks. And in the end to be able to see triumph instead of tragedy.
“If something goes wrong and we lose a soldier, I pull the staff back together and walk with them through that particular incident,” Middlebrooks says. “It’s important to help them retell the story and re-feel the feelings of what happened and release those emotions. And then we restart the journey for the next trauma coming in.”
A typical day for Chaplain Middlebrooks is filled with patient and staff visits, administrative meetings, military briefings, Bible studies, and counseling sessions. He leads four worship services on weekends and even finds time to keep the coffee pot full.
Middlebrooks is known throughout the hospital as the coffee chaplain. “I don’t carry a weapon, I carry a coffee cup,” he says.
“If the chaplain’s boots are on the floor, then you know there’s coffee,” says one caffeine-addicted soldier.
The rich aroma of fresh-brewed coffee embraces you as you enter the chaplain’s office. It’s an oasis—a place to pause from the stress of deployment. The staff drops in all day for a chat and a cup of coffee. “When people come in to get coffee or tea, they instinctively migrate to the couch and sit and talk for awhile,” Middlebrooks says. “My favorite words are ‘Chaplain, do you have a minute to talk.’”
 Middlebrooks spends his days making the rounds—checking on the sick and wounded and visiting with the caretakers. “There are days the staff can’t really get away from their areas. That’s why I come to them.”
One of the chaplain’s favorite activities is the Thursday night marriage enrichment class. “Marriage enrichment has become a passion of mine while we're deployed,” Middlebrooks says. “Reintegration back to our families doesn't start a month before we get home, it starts the day we get in the theater. This is a time when soldiers need to work on their marriages.”
Just listening to Middlebrooks describe his weekly activities would make the busiest senior pastor exhausted.
In a matter of seconds a phone call can come in, and he’s off to the ER.
“I fall in bed at night just asking God for strength for the next day and he always gives it.”
Triumph in tragedy
It takes great emotional strength to work in a combat hospital, to see the horrific wounds, to cope with the death of countrymen and be able to move on to the next trauma. Chaplains like Middlebrooks provide much-needed spiritual care and point to hope in Christ.
Middlebrooks is seeing a lives changed through this deployment. “Soldiers are not only growing in their faith, but for some of them, they’re coming to the wilderness to find it,” Middlebrooks says. “This is a great place to find faith, because often times it’s the only thing you have to hold on to.”
Middlebrooks says a spiritual revival is taking place. “Pray that the revival will continue. Soldiers are accepting Christ, lives are being changed, and in the midst of great tragedy there's great triumph. God knows what He’s doing, and He’s working miracle after miracle”
God is doing the work and Chaplain Middlebrooks is merely an instrument used by God to point soldiers to the cross. On the hard days when they have to do an Angel Flight and send a fallen warrior home, Middlebrooks reminds those in his care how precious life is and how God dearly loves them.
“I remind my soldiers that when David said ‘Yeah though I walk through the valley,’ God didn't say He would leave us there. He said he would take us through it; not take us around it but take us through it. The mud is deep and the blood is red but the mountain is what we’re working toward; and the air is clean, the day is bright and joy comes in the morning.”
Carol Pipes, editor of On Mission, spent two weeks in Iraq reporting on the work of military chaplains.
Support our troops
Care packages are a great way to support our troops, especially during the holidays. Cards and letters are also appreciated. Prepackaged treats, as well as magazines and toiletries (packed separately), are certainly welcome. If you want to send a package but don’t have someone in mind, these websites can help you adopt a soldier. For soldiers’ requests and addresses, go to anysoldier.com/wheretosend. For more nonprofit organizations that help those in the armed services, visit www.ourmilitary.mil.
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by Carol Pipes
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| Soldiers at Camp Liberty, Baghdad, Iraq, prepare to head out on an afternoon mission. Photo by Carol Pipes. |
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| Chaplain (Cpt.) Kent Coffey greets soldiers at the Sunday morning contemporary service at Camp Liberty Division Chapel. Photo by Carol Pipes. |
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| Chaplain (Cpt.) Kent Coffey serves as battalion chaplain for the Division Special Troops Battalion, 1 Calvary Division out of Ft. Hood, Texas, serving at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, Iraq. Photo by Carol Pipes. |
ALPHARETTA, Ga.--It wasn’t by chance that Chaplain (Cpt.) Kent Coffey arrived at the Combat Stress Center on Camp Liberty in Baghdad, Iraq, just moments after a U.S. soldier opened fire killing five soldiers and wounding three, Monday, May 11, 2009.
“It was the providence of God that I was even aware of what had happened,” Coffey said. Coffey and his assistant (Pfc.) Russ Glover were walking back to the division chapel from lunch, thirty minutes later than normal, when they noticed emergency vehicle lights at the Combat Stress Center. Having served closely with members of the combat stress team, they stopped to see if they could be of any help.
Coffey and Glover were the first chaplain team to arrive on the scene. Chaplain Coffey sent Glover to the chapel to call for chaplain reinforcements while he talked to the soldiers onsite to sort out what had happened.
Once the division chaplain arrived to take over at the scene of the incident, Coffey and Glover headed to the Troop Medical Clinic where the wounded soldiers were being treated. They arrived just as the medical staff had “called” the death of one of the victims.
“The staff was still lingering in the treatment room, so I gathered them all, and we said a prayer for the soldier’s family,” said Coffey. The commander of the medical unit asked Coffey to stay and help with an After Action Review. “I said a prayer and spoke some words of encouragement, offering my praise for the work they do in times like these.”
In the meantime, the division chapel where Coffey serves had been turned into the center of operations for evaluating the soldiers who had been in the center at the time of the event. Coffey soon discovered that one of the soldiers from his battalion had been present.“I was only able to speak to her briefly, but I told her that if she wanted to talk I was available day or night.”
Later that evening, Coffey and Glover went back to the clinic to see if they could offer support. Again, God’s timing was evident. The team of first responders who had offered life-saving measures to one of the soldiers had gathered for a gut check. They asked Chaplain Coffey to join them.
“The captain who led the session was excellent. He got them talking and then turned it over to me,” said Coffey. He went on to conduct a mini-Critical Event Debrief. These are designed to allow soldiers to share their experiences with each other, to talk about thoughts and feelings in a safe environment, and help them process the events.
“I was amazed at how well these soldiers were able to rally around each other and embrace their shared experience,” Coffey said. “It was good to see people sharing and see that others were experiencing the same thoughts and feelings as their fellow soldiers. I finished that time with prayer and stuck around a while in case anyone wanted to talk.
The next day, Coffey and Glover attended the ramp ceremony at the Air Force base and watched as the fallen soldiers were placed on an angel flight, en route to their homes in the U.S.
“There were tons of people out there, paying tribute to these men,” said Coffey. “I was glad we went if for nothing else than to just lay my hand on the back of those who were openly weeping.”
Coffey, a member of the Division Special Troops Battalion, 1 Calvary Division out of Ft. Hood, Texas, is one of 1,200 Southern Baptist chaplains serving in the U.S. military—more than a third of the 3,078 chaplains endorsed by the North American Mission Board.
While military chaplains do not carry weapons or drive vehicles used as weaponry, they nevertheless serve alongside soldiers, airmen and marines, witnessing all the horrors of war. Since 9/11, chaplains have risen to the occasion, providing counseling and support.
“Military chaplaincy is an extremely important ministry in today's world,” said Keith Travis, leader for NAMB’s chaplaincy team. “With the Global War on Terror, the role of a chaplain has become very important. Soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are looking to chaplains for a word of hope. Our SBC-endorsed chaplains are on the front of the battle ready to offer hope, words of encouragement and strength, and also point the way to the cross!”
On Wednesday following the incident, Coffey was finally able to debrief with the private in his unit who was present during the shooting. “My heart broke as she shared with me what had happened,” said Coffey. “I was glad I already had a relationship built with her, so she felt comfortable enough to talk.”Coffey explained that it is imperative for chaplains to develop relationships with the soldiers in their unit, battalion and division. That involves visiting with them where they work, in the chow hall, even going on patrol with them.
“As chaplains we have to seek them out, build relationships with them, be real with them and then maybe, just maybe, when they have a need they will overcome their reluctance to seek us out for help,” said Coffey. “The more I build that relationship, when a crisis occurs in their life, then I’m free to share the message of Christ.” Relational evangelism is the bedrock of chaplaincy ministry, according to Travis. “That is why chaplains run PT every day, why they are on the battlefield, leaving the green zone to go with soldiers, so that they can build a relationship that will offer them the right to lead them to the cross.”
Chaplain Coffey is no stranger to tragedy, death and sorrow. During his first deployment to Iraq in 2006, he lost 13 men within 24 hours. He listened over a radio as one of the units was ambushed by the enemy, hearing their cries of distress. The wound is still fresh as Coffey recalls the counseling sessions and memorial services in the days and weeks that followed.Then and now, Coffey leaned on the support of the One who provides hope and everlasting life. And he relied on the training he has received as a military chaplain.“I always ask myself the question… ‘what would I want said to me if I were in this situation?’ If the answer is nothing, then I just shut my mouth and am just there,” Coffey said. “The essence of a good chaplain is being where the need is the greatest, assessing where you can best be used, and then moving out of the way and allowing God to use you as He sees fit.”
As division chaplain, Coffey is responsible for the spiritual support of some 2,000 soldiers. Coffey, who was called to active duty as a chaplain in 2005, acknowledges that a chaplain's ministry can be very demanding. “The need is great all across the Army. The news media is reporting all the time about multiple tours and the stress involved. Remember our chaplains face this as well,” he said.
“It takes someone capable of experiencing those tours and yet have their own lives together enough to be able to endure under the worst conditions and still be able to minister to others.”
Part of Chaplain Coffey’s role is to support other chaplains who have lost soldiers. SBC Chaplain (Cpt.) Jerry Wagner lost one of his soldiers in last week’s tragic event. Chaplain Wagner led a memorial service last Thursday for the fallen soldier. “Chaplains have the tough job of ministering while hurting themselves,” said Coffey. “Speaking from experience, this is the hardest job of all.”
Chaplain Coffey talked about the need for more men, who are strong in their faith, to answer the call of being a military chaplain. “We need men who have a sense of calling to the hardest ministry they will ever face. Men who are capable of standing by the side of a fallen soldier and be able to look in the faces of the medical folks who tried to save his life and have a word from the Lord. Our most desperate need is for guys who have a passion for people and to see those people improve in every area of their life.”
Coffey also spoke of the importance of prayer from Southern Baptists.“Knowing there’s folks back in the states that care, that are praying and will stick with you during the tough times makes all the difference in the world.” Travis called for a reminder to lift all of our chaplains up in prayer, that God would strengthen them for the days ahead. “Our Chaplains suffer the same tragedies and losses that our military personnel face,” Travis said. “Yet, in the face of tragedy they need to be ready to offer hope...pray that God would give them courage and strength.”