Bliss Chaplains hold first Religious Leader Symposium

Photo By David Poe | Command Sgt. Maj. James Musnicki, the William Beaumont Army Medical Center command...... read more read more

Photo By David Poe | Command Sgt. Maj. James Musnicki, the William Beaumont Army Medical Center command sergeant major, speaks as part of a Soldiers’ panel at the 2024 Spring Religious Leader Symposium at Fort Bliss, Texas, April 11, 2024.  see less | View Image Page

FORT BLISS, TX, UNITED STATES

04.11.2024

Story by David Poe  

Fort Bliss Public Affairs Office

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FORT BLISS, Texas -- Religious leaders and spiritual care specialists from greater El Paso joined the Fort Bliss Chaplain community for the 2024 Spring Religious Leader Symposium at the 1st Armored Division Chapel here, April 11.

During the morning program, a first of its kind at Bliss hosted by the Religious Support Office, guests listened to two panels – Soldiers and spouses – about their military experiences and the challenges they’ve faced seeking their faith-based communities amidst the transient military lifestyle.

At the end of each session, the panel was open for questions from the audience.

Bliss is home to 18 chapel services and more than 30 religious education programs, which are available for the more than 30,000 troops stationed here and their families.

Command Sgt. Maj. James Musnicki, the William Beaumont Army Medical Center command sergeant major; and 1st AD Master Sgt. Olivia Cross were joined by Chaplain (Lt. Col). Troy Morken, the 1st AD command chaplain, for the Soldier panel.

Sherrill Isenhower, the 28-year wife of Maj. Gen. Jim Isenhower III, the 1st AD and Fort Bliss commanding general; Dr. Sharita Knobloch, who is married to Master Sgt. Brandon Knobloch, a U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy student; and Jessica Bozeman, who is married to a 1st AD sergeant; sat in for the spouses panel. Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Gino Hernandez, the Bliss garrison chaplain, said both panels intended to offer a cross-section of military and military life experiences.

During the Q&A session, Musnicki, a 32-year Soldier who plans to retire in 2025, encouraged religious leaders off of the installation to welcome military families as they would any other families to discourage isolation. .

“Treat them like you would any El Pasoan, don’t segregate,” he said. “I don’t do that at my hospital. I don't have civilians and Soldiers; I just treat them all like we're all just part of this family, no matter what you wear.”

Isenhower said she noticed a cultural separation in her church when she was growing up near Fort Campbell, Ky., recalling that while military families were welcomed, they were considered “distinct and separate” in the community.

In her introduction, Bozeman, who marks Bliss as her second Army duty station, admitted that, sometimes, feeling isolated as a military spouse, especially one that is new to a location, can be a two-way street.

“At the first duty station we were at, I made the mistake of not getting plugged in right away,” she said. “I was a brand new spouse, you don't know what you don't know. And honestly, to be very candid, I was afraid of military spouses. Right? Like, you have the shows, you have the drama. And I was like, ‘No, I don't think so. I'm not doing that.’ I regretted that quickly. and I kind of kept myself a little isolated.”

In her answers as a panelist, Knobloch shared a heartfelt story about isolation while her husband was away at U.S. Army Ranger School, and when she vowed to always seek out community wherever the Army sends her and her family.

“I had a miscarriage and I had no one to call. And I remember laying on that hospital gurney, and being like, never again, never again,” she said. “Never again am I going to put myself in a position where I don't have someone to be like, ‘Get here now, drive me to the hospital, hold my hand while I cried.’ Never again. So, God used that moment, in a beautiful way. – Romans 8:28 – using it for the good in order to be like, ‘Hey, be aggressive and intentional when you're building community.”

In his welcome to the audience, Col. Brendan Gallagher, the Bliss garrison commander, turned the aftermath on the homefront following a Vietnam War battle depicted in the film “We Were Soldiers” to stress the importance of partnership and readiness when it comes to the care that chaplains, their assistants, and experts outside of the military provide.

“There was a major battle, [Battle of] la Drang, that caught America really by surprise in terms of how ferocious and intense that combat was and how many casualties were sustained in a very short period,” Gallagher said. “​​And so what happened was in some cases, you had taxi cab drivers who were notifying families of their loved ones being lost, which is obviously not how anybody would want that.

“We don't want to wait until an event comes like that for the light bulb to go off, like, ‘Oh, we have to form that relationship,’” he said. “We want to have those relationships in place, and enduring throughout.”

For more information on the chaplain program at Fort Bliss, visit https://home.army.mil/bliss/my-fort/all-services/religious-support-office.