First Baptist Church was approached by Captain Ron Fisher, Chaplain, U.S. Army, with a proposal to have First Baptist Church adopt Delta Company while they are deployed to Iraq. Delta Company is part of the U.S. Army, 10th Mountain, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment based at Ft. Polk, Louisiana and currently serving in Iraq.

Chaplain Fisher and his wife Amy were members at First Baptist from 2002-2003 at which time he took an associate pastor position with a church in California. It was there that Ron felt led to serve God in the military. When he heard they would be deployed to Iraq he set in motion an idea to ask churches to adopt a company of soldiers for 15 months. He has a great heart for his men (warriors as he calls them) and wants to make sure they are encouraged through prayer, cards/letters and care packages.

Supporting this Company is not political . . . it’s giving our soldiers something from home; and just the thought that someone cares other than their families/friends can help keep them strong. If you’ve been there then you know just how much a letter or card of encouragement from homes can mean to a soldier.
 

By Sgt. David Hodge, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-F PAO

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq - Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers operating from combat outposts and join security stations in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad are consistently busy with missions or details.

Finding the time to worship in between missions and details can be hard, but chaplains assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, bring church services to the Soldiers outside the amenities of the forward operating base by traveling all over the battlefield.

"The role of a chaplain on the battlefield is to provide spiritual, moral and ethical well-being to the Soldiers," said Maj. Trenton Lewis, the chaplain for the 1st BCT. "Also, to ensure that Soldiers' rights in combat are not violated. That is their mission."

The chaplains have always focused on Soldiers and Families, Lewis said.

While deployed, Soldiers especially benefit from all the attention from the chaplains, he explained.

Lewis stressed he mission always comes first, a belief engrained in the mind of any U.S. Soldier, but units are encouraged to allow time for their Soldiers to worship.

"So far, my chaplains have performed admirable," Lewis, a veteran with 16 years of service, said. "They are handling their mission out on the battlefield."

Outside of FOB Falcon, located in southern Baghdad, chaplains conduct field services, baptisms and tend to injured Soldiers. Chaplains also lead mandatory training classes, such as suicide awareness, combat stress prevention and marital counseling.

"I'm proud of the brigade's chaplains for being so in touch with the Soldiers out at the JSSs and COPs," Lewis said.

Capt. Ronny Fisher, the chaplain for the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., spends more than four days each week traveling to the COPs and JSSs in the Doura community, the 2nd Battalion's area of operations.

"Services at the COPs and JSSs allow Soldiers he time and opportunity to worship in between missions," Fisher said. "I like being able to spend time with the Soldiers and share in the risks they take daily. I am able to share life with them."

Fisher said he works to inspire Soldiers and challenge them to become stronger at following Christ.

"The services provide me an opportunity to address some of the issues that all Soldiers have experienced during the course of this deployment," Fisher explained.

"The Soldiers seriously inspire me," he added.

He carries his acoustic guitar with him wherever he goes and begins each service with music and invites everyone in attendance to sing along.

"The music provides the Soldiers the chance to participate in the service." Fisher said.

The Soldiers he visits said they appreciate the services he provides.

"Chaplain Fisher has a way of raising my morale, and something about him boosts the other guy's morale too," said Mr. Andrew Borst, an infantryman assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-4 Inf. Regt., attached to the 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B. "He gives Soldiers a chance to forget about everything going on to worship God."

Fisher attributes the services' success to battalion and company-level command teams for enabling him the opportunity to spread the word of Christ.

"I have been really fortunate to work with the commanders and first sergeants," Fisher said.

"They accommodate my chaplain assistant and me around the battlefield to all the right places. I am grateful," he added, "to be here with the 2-4 Inf. Regt. I love serving with these guys. We have thousands of people praying for us back home."

Fisher's assistant, Spc. Roy Fraiser, HHC, 2-4 Inf. Regt., brings an enlisted perspective to the team and works hard to complete the mission.
 

Correspondence from Delta Company
 

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