Could Squadron Chaplain be Finance Officer?

Started by deats1, August 22, 2017, 12:32:50 PM

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TheSkyHornet

+1 to Chappie's points.


We had this topic a while back in regard to our Chaplain also being our Safety Officer.

One side argued that the role of the Safety Officer was a non-command role, and, therefore, had no conflict of interest so long as they were not making command decisions as to the squadron's overall conduct and direction.

The other side argued that the role of the Safety Officer has a huge factor in the decision making process, go/no-go analyses regarding safety---basically being the "bad guy" at times. It was felt that the Chaplain should not hold this role because it can put him/her in a position of being unapproachable from the mentor/counselor standpoint.

I have to agree with the latter. I feel that the Chaplain, regardless of the Chaplain's own opinions and unbiased merits, should not be included in the processes that affect the dynamic direction and mission of the unit. This is more so coming from my own experiences and never seeing the primary unit Chaplain as holding another post within the unit; although, I have seen Chaplain's Assistants serve in dual roles but in a non-counseling role while serving under the Chaplain.

I think when it comes to finances, I don't necessarily see the issue in the Chaplain being a part of budget discussions in developing the overall squadron financial plan, but in the approval/disapproval process, it starts to take them out the role as being the go-to counseling figure and turns them into an adversary when it comes to operational and morale expenditures. I would really caution that.