CommunityEditor
03-08-2009, 03:27 PM
BISMARCK, N.D. — The North Dakota National Guard’s staff of chaplains is about half-strength after the retirement of longtime state chaplain Col. Jeff Franko.
Franko, 59, who served as the head chaplain for 16 years, retired Saturday. Guard spokesman Lt. Dan Murphy said Franko will be succeeded by Col. William Ziegler, who currently is serving at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.
“Chaplain Franko has selflessly served his fellow guardsmen extremely well during his tenure as our state chaplain,” Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, the state Guard commander, said during Saturday’s retirement ceremony for Franko in the Bismarck armory. “He has been called upon countless times to comfort, counsel and provide spiritual guidance to our citizen soldiers, citizen airmen and their families.”
Ziegler has served in various chaplain assignments with the Fargo-based 119th Wing and the state Guard headquarters. He is expected to be replaced at Hickam in June.
Maj. David Johnson, state chaplain for the Army Guard, who served under Franko, said the Army side of the Guard has only four of eight chaplain spots filled. The Air Guard has two chaplains, with a third open slot.
Johnson said one reason for the understaffed chaplain corps is retirements such as Franko and Maj. Brian Donahue a year ago. Donahue, who now is an active-duty Army chaplain at West Point, was the only Catholic chaplain in the Army Guard, Johnson said.
“There’s interest out there,” he said. “But many of the pastors who ask about it have parishes to look after.”
Franko has been pastor of Central Lutheran in Winona, Minn., since 2003. Before that he was senior pastor at Lord of Life Lutheran in Bismarck for 13 years. He joined the Guard in 1988, first serving with the 164th Engineer Battalion in Minot.
Until a couple of years ago, the Guard’s chaplaincy was never more than one chaplain short, Johnson said. He said he is not sure if the possibility of being deployed to a war zone is a deterring factor for potential candidates.
“When I do talk to (candidates), they know the importance of having a chaplain deployed with the troops,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if that is a deterrent or not.
“The ones I have talked to have been pretty interested” in becoming a chaplain, he said. “It’s just that at whatever point they are at right now, they are not ready, with a new parish, or whatever.”
The number of chaplains needed is based on the number of battalions and commands rather than the number of soldiers, Johnson said.
Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_nd_chaplains_030709/
Franko, 59, who served as the head chaplain for 16 years, retired Saturday. Guard spokesman Lt. Dan Murphy said Franko will be succeeded by Col. William Ziegler, who currently is serving at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.
“Chaplain Franko has selflessly served his fellow guardsmen extremely well during his tenure as our state chaplain,” Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, the state Guard commander, said during Saturday’s retirement ceremony for Franko in the Bismarck armory. “He has been called upon countless times to comfort, counsel and provide spiritual guidance to our citizen soldiers, citizen airmen and their families.”
Ziegler has served in various chaplain assignments with the Fargo-based 119th Wing and the state Guard headquarters. He is expected to be replaced at Hickam in June.
Maj. David Johnson, state chaplain for the Army Guard, who served under Franko, said the Army side of the Guard has only four of eight chaplain spots filled. The Air Guard has two chaplains, with a third open slot.
Johnson said one reason for the understaffed chaplain corps is retirements such as Franko and Maj. Brian Donahue a year ago. Donahue, who now is an active-duty Army chaplain at West Point, was the only Catholic chaplain in the Army Guard, Johnson said.
“There’s interest out there,” he said. “But many of the pastors who ask about it have parishes to look after.”
Franko has been pastor of Central Lutheran in Winona, Minn., since 2003. Before that he was senior pastor at Lord of Life Lutheran in Bismarck for 13 years. He joined the Guard in 1988, first serving with the 164th Engineer Battalion in Minot.
Until a couple of years ago, the Guard’s chaplaincy was never more than one chaplain short, Johnson said. He said he is not sure if the possibility of being deployed to a war zone is a deterring factor for potential candidates.
“When I do talk to (candidates), they know the importance of having a chaplain deployed with the troops,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if that is a deterrent or not.
“The ones I have talked to have been pretty interested” in becoming a chaplain, he said. “It’s just that at whatever point they are at right now, they are not ready, with a new parish, or whatever.”
The number of chaplains needed is based on the number of battalions and commands rather than the number of soldiers, Johnson said.
Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_nd_chaplains_030709/