U.S. Strategic Command holds workshops on religious affairs readiness

The U.S. Strategic Command’s Office of Religious Affairs convened two readiness workshops April 14–16 to align approaches to spiritual health among unified combatant command chaplains and to strengthen readiness skills across component religious affairs teams.

“These workshops allow us to define spiritual health and mold our chaplain corps into a more resilient combat-ready force,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Rolf Holmquist, the USSTRATCOM command chaplain. “We can communicate and collaborate, while sharing ideas and learning from each other’s experience and mission sets.”

The first session brought together combatant command chaplains to exchange priorities and concerns affecting the spiritual well-being of forces in their areas of responsibility. A second session focused on service component chaplains—including participants from the Air Force’s 2nd Bomb Wing and the Navy’s Strategic Communications Wing 1—who trained on new skills and tested readiness through a table-top exercise.

“Bringing the team together is very important,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Robert Christian, the U.S. Fleet Forces Command chaplain. “Building those relationships, learning new skills and creating a care system network you can rely on is the key to taking care of our warfighters.”

Holmquist spotlighted USSTRATCOM’s “moral compass” initiative, described as a framework for sustaining sound decision-making under pressure and navigating mental, emotional, and spiritual stressors. The approach is intended to strengthen warrior ethos, prevent moral injury, and underpin ethical performance.

“Research indicates that to preserve a moral compass, the warfighter needs to be grounded in an ongoing ethical, educational, and practical formation before a conflict happens,” said Holmquist. “This effective sustainment, a key imperative of USSTRATCOM, requires continual assessment of force health and helps fortify long-term spiritual health and readiness.”

“Once they have their values set and they really embrace a core moral structure, then they start looking at ethical decisions that we have to do,” said Holmquist. “This is important for the nuclear operator, because the mission and decisions we could be asked to make, in a moment’s notice, can affect the entire world.”

The workshops also emphasized familiarity with the nuclear enterprise, reinforcing the mindset and decision-making skills needed for its distinct operating conditions. Organizers said participants would return to their units with practical perspectives and tools, while reinforcing the foundational structure the nuclear enterprise provides to the War Department.

“Ultimately, these workshops are about understanding and equipping,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Collin Carter, the 737th Training Group religious affairs superintendent and incoming USSTRATCOM religious affairs senior enlisted leader. “Thinking about what our nation’s needs are, what the command’s needs are, and using that information to not only advise our commanders, but to help guide the people and communities we support by supporting that spiritual health and readiness.”