Andrew Aquino

Segment Synopsis: - Grew up on West Side of Chillicothe, Ohio, “running the neighborhoods ’till dinner time”; close-knit neighborhood

- Dad was a biology teacher at Chillicothe High School; mother as a middle school science and home economics teacher

- Went thru the public school system; siblings

- Father served in WWII; was on a ship in the South Pacific; Aquino grew up with the sense that the “fighting was already done”; but had a favorable view of service

- Was an “average student” in high school; had a group of close friends; graduated in 1976

- Wanted to head to Duke University for Forestry, but faced a flooded job market

Keywords: WWII; childhood; family; forestry school; legacy of service; parents’ military experience

Segment Synopsis: - Had a tight circle of friends at the Tabernacle Baptist Church; decided to go into ministry or into teaching, to be able to do both of those things

- Family and church supported this calling; several of Aquino’s friends also opted to go into the ministry, from his youth group; many became church pastors, planners, missionaries and service people

- Drawn to ministry out of a conversation with a youth pastor; looking for confirmation in this work — original plan was to find full-time work as a minister and follow that path

- Served on short-term mission trips in foreign countries (Scotland, England); connected with churches in other countries

- Attended theological seminary: undergraduate at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia (Baptist school) — saw a new world and pushed boundaries, asked questions

- Seminary at Trinity Evangelical Seminary in Chicago; saw an argument and perspective; influenced by being exposed to a wide background of belief systems — not just his own

Keywords: Liberty University; Trinity Evangelical Seminary; calling to ministry; church life; diversity; family support; mission trips; theological seminary; youth group

Segment Synopsis: - After seminary, Aquino received a flyer in the mail calling for qualified pastors to join the military chaplaincy with the Ohio National Guard

- Aquino had two young children at the time; wanted to use ministry skills in another setting (1987)

- At the time, Aquino expected the Guard to consist of “summer camps”; emphasis on a need for chaplains to do this work supporting and encouraging service in the Guard and ensuring the exercise of freedom of religion

- 1987-1999: had served successfully in two churches in Pennsylvania and Columbus

- Excited by the idea of going out to the soldiers, -vs.- waiting for them to come into a church

- Aquino had envisioned working for 30 years and retiring as a church pastor

- Then: had joined Guard; deployed to Kosovo. Worked to start a church and teaching in an English in a high-school with at-risk students; when Aquino returned from deployment, his position was gone.

- Got the call that another battalion was heading almost immediately back into theatre in 2005, 5 months after his return; joining a group already in-country

- Aquino had already completed seminary; just needed an endorsement (paperwork) to become a chaplain: took 6-8 months

Keywords: Iraq; Kosovo; Ohio National Guard; chaplaincy; deployments; enlisting; family; pastoral work

Segment Synopsis: - Completed officer basic course for non-combatants

- Trained in staff duties, organizational fit and how to minister to servicemen and -women of a variety of faith backgrounds; accommodating military diversity

- From Aquino’s Baptist upbringing and school training, he was already familiar with different belief traditional; less invested in fine-tooth theology and more committed to providing general counsel and addressing concerns; personalizing counsel to be able to minister to pain

- Loved the work, opportunities for additional trading and helping people who would come to him with questions and concerns

Subjects: basic training; chaplaincy training; officer basic raining

Segment Synopsis: - Aquino was able to make an arrangement with the Guard unit to drill on alternate days; rarely drilled on a Sunday — was able to maintain his pastoral schedule

- Commanders supported his outside life in the ministry; was able to do both at once

- “Anytime the chaplain’s there, that’s when you have church”

- Chapel services at drill not often well-attended; much more about walking around and being a part of the drill culture; asking questions; developing good relationships and being able to be a part of some trainings

- Basic training drill sergeant influenced Aquino’s practice: low crawl through the mud — as a chaplain, role is to “be where it sucks the most”; create an image and impression of participating

- Joined chaplaincy as a married man with two children; “spouse joins, too”

- Originally offered active-duty, and decided against this; but wife had an uncle in the military and was favorable to the idea

- Expectations were for 2 weeks of “summer camp” and drill weekends; hadn’t expected to have to go anywhere or deployed

- 9/11 changed all that: “the way we go to war, how we do business”

Keywords: Ohio National Guard; chaplaincy on drill weekends; civilian and Guard life balance; drill weekends

Segment Synopsis: - Aquino was working with at-risk students at Logan Elm High School in Circlesville

- National Guard helicopter pre-scheduled to fly in for a demonstration on the lawn that day, to help recruit students

- Helicopter set down at 8:30 in the morning; landed and then went back

- School was glued to the televisions the entire day

- Nobody really knew impact on military service until years afterwards

- Oldest son had joined the Guard as a way to pay for college (Aug. 2000); activated to serve at Rickenbacher; Air Force folks were gone; Aquino “saw the storm” coming

- Second son was deployed to Kuwait; oldest daughter joined the Marines

- Post-9/11 military culture has had a huge impact on Aquino’s family

- Aquino was worried about his childrens’ enlistments, post-9/11: “no guarantees”; relieved that son was called locally, to Rickenbacher

- Nephew Aaron served with Lima Company Marines, along with brother in the National Guard; Aaron was killed in action (Lance Corporal Aaron Reed)

- Between Aquino’s own deployment experiences and losing nephew Aaron, experienced a lot of grief; “How long does grief take?”

- Experiences of losing family members in service has shaped Aquino’s own responses and reactions — lots of pressure on the chaplain in traumatic, tragic and stressful situations

Keywords: 9/11; civilian life; family military involvement; grief; teaching

Segment Synopsis: - Staged out of Camp Atterbury, Indiana: series of trainings and pre-mobilization activities

- Dispatched to Hohenfels, Germany of 3 weeks, then entered Kosovo

- On a “Peacekeeping Mission”: not considered a combat zone; multi-national mission, with Greeks, Lithuanians, Polish, Czech, Irish, &c.

- Lots of Catholics in the task force, but no priest; Guard was still figuring out premobilization trainings

- Assigned to a battalion brigade

- Kosovo mission, in 2004, was not a part of the main wars the U.S. was getting involved in; mission to help the active duty

Keywords: Camp Atterbury; Germany; Hohenfels; Kosovo; deployment; military training; mobilization; peacekeeping; premobilization training

Segment Synopsis: - Worked running services, Bible study; available for counseling and visiting soldiers in the workplace

- Became a staff chaplain: supervision of 4 other chaplains; mentoring relationships; arranging for “spiritual journeys” into Greece — traveling the journey of the Apostle Paul; soldiers loved this experience; conducting baptisms in Greece

- Chaplain ends up discussing spiritual experiences with almost anyone — even if they’re from a different faith background; working to keep the message more universal

- Culture at Camp Bondsteel “more like a prison”; two chapels there; same routine every day — most things get taken care of for you

- Not a lot of freedom at Bondsteel, counted down the days to return from deployment on a deployment clock

- Nonetheless, Aquino formed lasting friendships with other servicemen and -women from Ohio

- Communication with family at home and overseas in Kuwait was via videoconferencing; Aquino describes it as both “good and bad,” to see what is going on — sad to not feel a part of it

- Celebrated 24th Anniversary with his wife while overseas; sent one letter a day for twenty-four days, and read the same chapter of the same book at the same time

Keywords: Camp Bondsteel; Greece; chaplaincy; communication; cultural exchange; family; military chaplain duties; staff chaplain

Segment Synopsis: - Glad to return home; accomplished a lot — glad to be doing something worthwhile

- Able to interact with many locals; helped a local school to complete a remodeling project; excited about community partnerships

- Transition home was difficult: funding for high-school job dried up; went on unemployment/living off savings from deployment

- Sad transition: everybody goes their separate ways; missing the close bonds from deployment

- Can be difficult to provide counseling to those transitioning, but remembering that the chaplain is going through the same experiences as well

Keywords: Kosovo; community partnerships; homecoming; resuming civilian life; transition home

Segment Synopsis: - Quickly was called by the State Chaplain and offered a convoy escort mission; said yes as a way to make more money, though wife didn’t necessarily agree

- State was desperate for captains; Lt. Colonel was willing to take folks 2 ranks overqualified

- Went back to serving as a battalion chaplain

- Political climate, in-theatre, was to “win hearts and minds”; make things safe during “the surge”; most of the more political debates were happening stateside, not overseas

- Served from September 2005 to September 2006: a very violent time; 8 soldiers killed

- Role included riding on convoys

- Lived in Kuwait, at Camp Navistar; rode into Iraq to work

- “Going into the mud” with fellow soldiers; balancing risk (chaplains are hard to replace) with duties of a chaplain to provide support and understand his soldiers’ experiences

- Took protective measures: didn’t ride in first car of convoy

- Convoy missions were “fast time”

- Ministry on a convoy often consisted of driving: drove over 8,000 miles; being a part of the convoy atmosphere; having conversations with soldiers

- Difficult situation: faith of soldiers in the lead vehicles was tested, especially when their convoy was hit

- Difficult, because chaplains can be seen as “good luck charms”; Aquino felt his faith was tested when the convoy was hit — prayed

- Ultimately, Aquino chose to go on more convoys; soldiers don’t have a choice

- While in Iraq, Aquino didn’t necessarily process the experiences; just “went through the motions”

- 2 other chaplains were also stationed at Navastar; they checked up on each other and put on a good face for soldiers

- Common experience amongst chaplains: put a band-aid on bigger issues/long-term stuff to be figured out when soldiers arrived at home; a lot of work delaying bigger issues until later

- Experienced the consequences of living in violence: made for spiritually troubling times; challenging to see how spirituality lined up in a combat zone

Keywords: Camp Navistar; Iraq; Iraq War; Kuwait; battalion chaplain; chaplaincy; convoy escort missions; faith; faith and service; military chaplaincy; second deployment

Segment Synopsis: - Kosovo deployment was chock-full of religious leader engagements; chaplains were involved in peacekeeping negotiations and worked with Albanians and Serbs

- In Iraq, duty was much more to serve as a convoy escort in combat zones; wearing body armor and driving in up-armored vehicles; lots more discomfort, but ministry was still the same

- Chaplain’s role doesn’t change in an active combat zone; but there are more problems: soldiers going through alcohol detoxing; family problems

- Communications were different in Iraq: lots of black-outs because of casualties/high-stakes combat zone; blackouts created concern for family members

- Communications technology in Iraq was better and more reliable

Keywords: Kosovo; Kuwait; communications; military chaplaincy; military communications; peacekeeping

Segment Synopsis: - Navistar was a tiny post; on the road with nowhere to go

- Aquino would walk or run every evening after dark, and work out in the weight room

- Chaplains held a Bible Study at night with services on Saturdays and Sundays; invited other folks in and worked to study aspects of the culture; watching movies and DVDs in the small movie theatre, etc.

- Chief duty was to be available for soldiers with news from home; to get up and be on-call at all hours of night

- Needing to be ready

- Did get experiences with entertainers — the Denver Bronco cheerleaders; but none of the big-name acts came through Navistar

- Bible Study was targeted to address the culture of the area

Keywords: Camp Navistar; Kuwait; entertainment; military chaplaincy

Segment Synopsis: - Interactions with Iraqis were mostly incidental; there was a Mosque right outside of Navistar; Aquino would go over to the Mosque and meet with Palestinian contractors and have long discussions about Christianity and the Muslim faith; was given a copy of the Quran and remembers good discussions

- Throughout all of this, Aquino remembers the Iraqis seeming to appreciate the American presence and welcome the soldiers

Keywords: Iraq; Iraqis; U.S.-Iraqi relations; cultural exchange; religion

Segment Synopsis: - Came home through Wisconsin, with a plane ticket back to Columbus

- Not the same huge crowds in Ohio as in Wisconsin; family came to the airport and got hugs from sister

- In Kuwait, had applied for full-time job; returned in September of 2006

- October 2006: assumed role as full-time chaplain for the Ohio National Guard

- New role, stateside, was to do casualty notifications — mostly with Ohio Guard chaplaincy teams and to serve as chaplain for the 148th battalion, which had lost 3 soldiers

- Casualty notifications are “difficult but honorable work”; needed to take time off after some of those experiences

- Returned home and learned of nephew’s loss

- Can be difficult to be in the counseling seat; not bringing up personal experiences, but just listening

- Some of the counseling process is anticipating trouble; weighing common experiences across deployments and looking for traumatic experiences that may cause problems

- Chaplains have partnerships with civilian and military mental health care providers; chaplains work to meet soldiers’ spiritual needs; helping to do referrals and hand-offs to get soldiers the care they need

- Aquino kept strong faith in theatre; but also saw many soldiers question or lose those faith traditions; hard to answer questions about “why” not having all the answers

- Service experience has made Aquino’s family more resilient; war accelerates the facing of life and death issues that all families must go through at one time or another

Keywords: Ohio National Guard; State Chaplain duties; casualty notifications; homecoming; transition home

Segment Synopsis: - Key values: putting others before self; finding joy in work serving other people

- Fighting basic selfishness; learning from that throughout

- Maintaining a long-term vision: 4 children, 3 grandchildren; meaning of life is “adding to the human race and the glorifying of God”

- Wake up and ask: “Who can I help today?”

- People who serve in the military are ultimately people just like anybody else

- Aquino most often feels not deserving of recognition; isn’t doing heroic things day-to-day — just going through the human experience; wants to be recognized, but also just to be like everybody else

- No amount of money or prestige make military service worthwhile; you have to have the right heart for it

- Post-9/11 military culture: deployment not “if,” but “when”

- Appreciates the diversity of views and backgrounds in the military; military always at the cutting edge of diversity in society; no time for segregation

- Faith has ultimately been strengthened by struggles and challenges in the military; Aquino now sees God as less a “celestial Santa Clause” but still as a force deeply in contact with the world — “God is more like God”

- Proud to serve with the Guard as a calling, and to help guide the next generation into chaplaincy

Keywords: faith and service; impact of military service; military chaplaincy; military values