Coordinating Chaplain 3 Bde, Chap Rod McAuliffe, outside the Bde CP near Williamson Airfield. Photo by Pte John Wellfare, Army newspaper

Padres in place

By Pte John Wellfare
GUIDANCE provided by a unit chaplain can extend beyond religion and away from the barracks, with padres deploying to the field in support of the troops.

Coordinating Chaplain 3 Bde, Chap Rod McAuliffe, said it was important to have a system in place for managing unit padres to best deal with situations that can arise during Exercise Croc 03.

"Apart from just being a chaplain and being around for the support of the people, as the brigade HQ and Coordinating Chaplain, I have some responsibility for the chaplains at the other 3 Bde units," he said.

"I don't have direct day-to-day communication with them, but if they have a problem they come to me, or if I've got something I think they should know I'll convey it to them.

"They give me weekly situation reports and I give a weekly situation report to the Senior Chaplain at CJFHQ."

Chap McAuliffe said incidents involving civilians, discovery of graves or other events that could cause emotional trauma, may occur during an exercise like Croc 03.

"I've got to respond to that, either by advising the HQ staff or asking for a redeployment of chaplains from elsewhere into the area.

"Something we also need to observe is the physical pressures on people in an environment like this, which can often take them by surprise."

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