After more than four years of leading the 75th Air Base Wing Base Chapel, Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Carl Wright will continue to serve both God and country at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., later this month. Wright took a moment to reflect on the impact he made to Team Hill over the past four years, and how Team Hill has impacted him, during an exit interview conducted Nov. 5.
What have been your most memorable times while at Hill AFB?
In 2006, when I returned from a five-month deployment at (Joint Base) Balad, (Iraq), an officer told me he met a kindly old man in a nursing home in South Ogden who was retired Air Force and expressed a fond memory of a 'most unusual young Airman who once worked for him at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.' Someone had told the retired man that the young man had gone on to become a chaplain ... who turned out to be (me). The old veteran turned out to be my very first supervisor in the Air Force, Master Sgt. (retired) Martin Fjelstrom! When I visited Marty for the first time in nearly 30 years, I told him that we needed to talk about that first (Enlisted Performance Report) he wrote on me! He responded by giving me a hug and saying the Lord had answered his prayer to be able to see me again. Since then, I have visited Marty about once every month.
I have also had a chance to lead the Gospel Music Extravaganza held each February during Black History Month. Along with Chief Master Sgt. Roosevelt Neeley, we have been able to host this event for the past four years. This has been a tradition in Utah for the past 10 years and the event is so popular that the chapel can barely hold all the folks who attend!
While I was deployed to Kuwait in 2007, I had the privilege of baptizing a dozen soldiers in the Persian Gulf on the Day of the Pentecost. It is against the constitution in Kuwait to be a Christian, so I had to get special permission from the government to do Christian baptisms in the Gulf while I was there, and my commander did that for me.
Of the projects you have helped establish and reinvigorate, which of those are you most fond of?
In 2006, Chaplain Dave Haltom created the Air Expeditionary Force Retreat program that has since helped thousands of military families remain strong through deployments. I will take the idea of the AEF retreat with me wherever I go in the Air Force, along with a promotional DVD! Everyone needs to know about that.
Another event that is important to me is the annual POW/MIA ceremony. Chief (Master Sgt. Kevin) Candler and I reinvented that ceremony for POW/MIA day in 2008. To our surprise, more than 300 people just showed up for the formation and ceremony. This year, we had more than 500 people attend. All of us know that, with our deployments, this could be us, so it hits home. (During the ceremony) I said, 'We are here because they are not.' That ceremony is such an honor (for me).
We streamlined and reorganized our worship program in the chapel due to active duty deployments. We had three Protestant services and then we streamlined it down to one (this year), and now the attendance at that one service is almost double that of the attendance of all three put together. We are grateful for that.
Hill Air Force Base chaplains jumpstarted the Junior Enlisted Center in 2006. Before that, it was dormant. Our chaplains got the cooperation of the two command chiefs and they reinvigorated the Junior Enlisted Advisory Council. That, in turn, led to thousands of dollars raised for renovations to that center and the chapel has funded a lot of programs in the JEC. I love this because we are not taking the credit for it; we are empowering our young Airmen to take the credit for it. We are just the behind-the-scenes leaders at the JEC.
I am also proud of our flightline ministry center that started in 2005, just before I arrived here. The 12th Air Force had funded the renovation of the building to create the ministry center. The majority of our Airmen ranking E-4 and below work along the flightline, so it is a convenient place for them to go. Also, the active duty chaplains and the 419th Fighter Wing chaplains both use the space as a cooperative ministry.
I am also happy to have seen the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator's office move to the chapel in 2008. That is the most appropriate location for the SARC to be, because the survivors will feel safer coming to a chapel to report a crime.
What will you miss most from Hill AFB?
The people; very special people get assigned to Hill, and Hill can make people very special. One of the strengths of this base is the enlisted continuity and long tenures of our enlisted folks. I think this is why our base does so well consistently on our inspections. People want to be here.
As a chaplain, I believe that it's not really about the mission, because the mission is a given. It's really about the people. Our relationships will either enhance the mission or harm the mission. It is totally up to us to help or hinder the mission.
I will also miss the mountains. I have a saying that is based on Psalms 121: "I lift my eyes to the (Wasatch mountains) -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth."
What will take away from your assignment at Hill AFB?
I have learned here that people can respectfully disagree and still accomplish the mission.
Also, because this is the longest military assignment I've ever had in 30 years, I have learned a lot from different commanders' leadership styles. I've seen three changes in command at the Ogden Air Logistics Center, three changes in command in the 75th Air Base Wing and three changes in command to the 388th Fighter Wing.
I've also learned that the civilian organizations, like the Top of Utah Military Affairs Committee, can be an effective force multiplier to our military mission. One of the base's biggest assets is this civilian-military cooperation.
I'll also take with me a deeper appreciation for the Latter Day Saints faith. I did not know very much about that faith before I came here and I've had many opportunities to learn more about it.
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