For more than 100 years, The Salvation Army has made its officers available to military commands to serve as chaplains. In particular, thousands of officers served in the Red Shield Services in direct support of military troops at home and abroad during the Second World War.

While there are a number of Salvation Army officers serving as military chaplains worldwide, in the Canada and Bermuda Territory, there are presently two officers and one officer candidate serving as military chaplains. Major Fred Butler-Caughie (see page 27) became the first Salvation Army officer to serve as a military chaplain since the Second World War when he joined the Reserves (part-time military) in November 1993 with the Canadian Forces rank of captain. In addition to his Salvation Army appointments in addiction treatment centres and as a court chaplain, he has served the military as regimental chaplain to the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment in Thunder Bay, Ont., with the 25 Service Battalion in Toronto and with The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in Belleville, Ont. He presently serves as group chaplain with the 70 Communication Group in Kingston, Ont.

Major Butler-Caughie deployed on active service to provide pastoral and welfare support throughout the ice storm of 1998. More recently, he was assigned as the notification officer to Trooper Marc Diab's family following his death due to an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan in March 2009. At the family's request, he remained with them through the repatriation of their son to CFB Trenton and the planning of the military funeral. He worked closely with the family's priest developing the liturgy and co-officiating at the funeral.

It is a privilege to work with military personnel and serve them with the love of Christ

In 2003, Captain Patrick Lublink became the first Salvation Army officer since the Second World War to join the Canadian Forces on a full-time basis. He has since served as chaplain to the 1st Infantry Battalion 22nd Regiment in Valcartier and 3 Air Force Wing in Bagotville, Que., U.S. Army Regional Medical Centre in Landstuhl, Germany, and the East Coast Navy in Halifax. In his most recent deployment, he sailed with the navy in the world's most dangerous ocean, off the coasts of Somalia, where his ship provided trade route security for commercial cargo ships against modern-day pirates.

In another historic moment for the territory, Captain Lublink was recently promoted to the rank of major in the military (he remains a captain in The Salvation Army). Major/Captain Patrick Lublink, assisted by his wife, Captain Valerie Lublink, is presently appointed as the Protestant chaplain to the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., with pastoral responsibility for over 1,000 officer-cadets and 200 staff members.

In 2008, Salvationist Mark Kalvaitis joined the Canadian Forces as a military chaplain for a unique two-year program. Mark is currently completing a master of divinity degree at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., and is also a Salvation Army officer candidate applying for training in 2010. He is enrolled in a program designed to introduce full-time theological students to the operational environments of the navy, army and air force. His reserve training, spread over the past two summers, included appointments to the navy in Halifax and in Victoria. During this time, he ministered on board different military ships and through preaching and leading chapel services at the base.

A highlight for Kalvaitis included trips aboard Sea King helicopters and HMCS Calgary during a NATO warfare exercise. At times, he finds that being the only chaplain on board a ship can be isolating but trusts the words of Psalm 139 that remind him he is never alone in his ministry. Kalvaitis considers it a privilege to work with military personnel and serve them with the love of Christ. He holds the military rank of lieutenant and plans to continue as a reservist chaplain within the Canadian Forces ministering to an Army unit in his hometown of Hamilton, Ont.

Photo: Cpt Patrick Lublink receives his Canadian Forces promotion to major from Commodore Mark Norman, Commander for the East Coast Fleet. Present at the ceremony are his wife, Cpt Valerie Lublink, and Mjrs Larry and Velma Martin, Maritime divisional leaders