In A Wing And At Prayer Published April 18, 2007 By SrA Ann W. Jefferson 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Chaplain (Col.) Paul R. Milliken leaned forward in his chair, elbows on his knees and hands clasped together, as if he were studying something, trying to move in closer. But he wasn't looking at anything in the room, he was searching back into his past. His crystal blue eyes took on a far-away look as he recalled one of the more memorable and difficult times during his nearly 20-year career as an Air Force Reserve chaplain with the 910th Airlift Wing. "When I was in Kuwait, a Security Forces member was killed, the first Air Force female to be killed. A service was planned, where 500-plus people attended. When the service was completed, each took time to pay tribute to their fallen comrade. That was a moving experience," he said, the emotion in his voice giving his statement confirmation as he stopped talking and just nodded his head up and down, eyes beginning to water. The chaplain was speaking about his time deployed with the 386th AEW, Kuwait, in 2005. A female Security Forces Squadron member was providing convoy security Sept. 28 when the vehicle in which she was riding was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED), immediately killing her. It was Chaplain Milliken who had to preside over her memorial service there and watch the Airmen who attended as they came forward to pay respects. "That experience, to go through that - he was very somber talking about it. I think he did a great job with the memorial. It means more to him as a chaplain to have that first-hand knowledge so when he talked to people here (about war and deployments), he could relate to them better," said Staff Sgt. Hermann J. Klarr, a chaplain's assistant who just ended six years with the chaplain's office at the 910th and is now in chaplain's school himself. "Remember, chaplains are also human, they deal with human emotions. With ministry sometimes you have to be able to shield others, but you take time to reflect, to grieve," said Staff Sgt. David A. Pastorius, NCOIC of the Chaplain's Office. The 910th can reflect on Chaplain Milliken devoting the bulk of his military career as the senior wing chaplain here when he officially retires from the Air Force Reserve April 30, 2007. A 1970 graduate of Malone College in Canton, Ohio, Chaplain Milliken was already an established pastor at two churches in Connellsville, Pa., when he took the Air Force oath of office just before his 40th birthday. As a new chaplain with the 910th, he was quoted in the May 1987 issue of "The Airstream" as saying he joined the Reserve because "I was told the Air Force was a good life, and I would have a good opportunity to help people." That statement has come to fruition, the chaplain said, calling his work here "one small part of my faith journey." But chaplains play one big part of the Air Force mission. Three words are inscribed on the Air Force Chaplain Service seal: "Freedom. Faith. Ministry." The Chaplain Service conducts religious observances, provides pastoral care, and offers advice to leaders on spiritual, ethical, moral, morale, and religious accommodation issues. From the time he first became a chaplain up to the present, one noticeable change in the Chaplain Service apparent to Chaplain Milliken was the increase in, first, the number of rabbis joining, then eventually other religious leaders, such as Muslims. He would go to AFRC Chapel staffs conferences and learn more about other faiths, taking part in the Air Force Chaplain Service vision of "Glorifying God, Honoring Airmen, and Serving All." "In Kuwait there were so many different faith groups. Even if I disagree doctrinally I'm there to support them," he said. Sergeants Pastorius and Klarr said the chaplain was very knowledgeable about his own Christian religion and was good at talking about it without forcing it on others. Apparently, that trait is one shared by other Airmen here. The chaplain said as far as his accomplishments here, what stands out about his work is a particular instance that repeats itself. "One fellow from a unit I visited to give my Thought-for-the-Day stopped by and said he appreciated it. He said, 'It's from the heart, you're not shoving Jesus down my throat, giving us things to think about.' People stop by and say thanks for this message, or that message," the chaplain said, sitting at his desk in sharply pressed BDUs and pointing toward his office door. "I know the line I shouldn't cross. I don't have the freedom here I have in my office or my church. For example, when giving invocations," the chaplain explained. Chaplain Milliken said each of the commanders here had him present a Thought-for-the-Day at pre-UTA staff meetings, which he gave having to keep limitations in mind. Yet while he has to give up certain ecumenical freedoms here, his work as a military chaplain actually complemented his ministry in civilian life. Currently, he serves as pastor of Trinity Towers Church in Penn Hills on Pittsburgh's east side. Aside from working around his weekend schedule as a pastor, the chaplain said that commanders here also were always good about telling him to go where he could train. He has been to Fort Dix with Security Forces, Panama with the 757th, Spain for a 15-day AEF tour, and Wright-Patterson AFB several times for annual tours. But like the first word reads on that chaplain seal, "freedom" is also what the chaplain was defending in two ways. First, the Air Force Chaplain Service provides the opportunity for Air Force Members and their families to exercise their constitutional right to freedom of religion. Secondly, freedom is what the chaplain defends as an officer in the armed services. The officer characteristics Chaplain Milliken possesses are as notable as his spiritual traits. His voice, while on the softer side and reassuring, can at the same time be firm and commanding. Sergeants Pastorius and Klarr said that Chaplain Milliken was extremely professional and held very high standards of himself and his staff, down to the grooming of their moustaches. When Chaplain (Maj.) Daniel Rohan retired in February 2007, he also pointed out his supervisor's influence, stating, "For the past 16 years I served under Chaplain Milliken. He has not only been a great friend, but his leadership has helped me develop my talents in the 'Ministry of Presents' that benefited the Reservists personally and spiritually here at the 910th and other air bases that I served with stateside and overseas." That drive to maintain a high level of professionalism doesn't mean Chaplain Milliken lacks a lighter side to his personality, though. "He also would ask how our families were, how school was, about our personal lives," said Sergeant Klarr. His assistants said the chaplain would always crack jokes about how he had more administrative duties to attend to than spiritual being the senior wing chaplain. He'd have to let Chaplain Rohan make the rounds visiting Airmen here while he was left behind in the office to do management work. On a more serious note, the paper-pushing is a downside to the job as senior chaplain, said the pastor. "The amount of administrative work becomes gigantic. My visitations to units got cut back. I did a lot of management, self-inspections, paperwork. It's a disappointment," the chaplain admitted, "because commanders want chaplains to do their work, their mission. For example, I came in for a UTA and had 175 emails to go through, so I had to work until 9 or 9:30 a.m. going through them." Fortunately, though, the chaplain said he had good people like Staff Sergeants Klarr and Pastorius who helped out tremendously. Because the wing chaplain is a lieutenant colonel slot, after being promoted to colonel Chaplain Milliken had to leave the 910th in September to work as an IMA at AFRC HQ the last six months of his career. At his new post, he advised the command chaplain regarding the ministry of 400 officers serving as chaplains and another 320 enlisted serving as chaplain's assistants. With his IMA duties complete, Colonel Milliken now plans to devote more of his time to his pastoral duties at his church and spend more time with his wife Beth, their adult children Richard and Rochelle, and grandchildren. As Chaplain Milliken sat back in his chair, the talk of family caused him to recall all the sacrifices Airmen make, giving a personal example that he was missing out on his grandson's 2nd birthday celebration for his last UTA, that weekend (September 2006). He wanted to come in for the training period, though, to interview a young chaplain joining the wing. "I was actually depressed the night before my last UTA, thinking about how I had only one day left at the 910th," he said. Yet that really wasn't Chaplain Milliken's last day here. He came back to the 910th for his official retirement ceremony this month. Now he is an alumnus of the 910th Airlift Wing. A line from the chaplain's first alma mater, Malone, reads, "May the years we spend together, Build our faith and make it known." Chaplain Milliken spent his years in the Air Force Reserve trying to echo that. And no matter what the denomination, a quote from Isaiah 61:1-3, from both the Hebrew and Christian versions of the Bible, relates to a chaplain's role: "The spirit of my Lord is to be upon me; Because the Lord shall anoint me to bring good tidings to men afflicted. He shall send me to bind up men broken in heart; To proclaim freedom to captives ... To comfort all mourners ... A wrapping of praise in place of a dim spirit."