Several months ago the force protection folks finally put T-walls in front of our building. T-walls are the handy dandy concrete barriers that keep mortar rounds and shrapnel from slicing through our walls. The walls, however, lack a certain aesthetic quality. So, my Chaplain Assistant put his rather formidable artistic skills to use and painted the Chaplain Crest on what we are calling the “UMT Rock”. I thought you might be interested in the symbolism of the crest.

1. The sun and the rays symbolize the provision and providence of God in nature;
2. The dove and olive branch is the traditional symbol of peace;
3. The open Bible represents the primacy of God’s Word.
4. The color blue represents the heavens and alludes to the spiritual nature and mission of the Chaplain Corps;
5. The rays, in addition to symbolizing the provision and providence of God in nature, also remind us of God’s universal Truth;
6. The surrounding palm branches at the top remind us of spiritual victory;
7. The Shepherd’s Crook indicates the pastoral nature of our ministry;
8. The date 1775 indicates the founding of our Corps – the oldest branch in the U.S. Army;
9. The Latin inscription “Pro Deo et Patria” is our motto, “For God and Country”.

Hopefully the new Unit Ministry Team will keep this wall in place and paint their own. If not, maybe they will simply paint their unit and names in place of our own. And perhaps that is appropriate as they build on our ministry and mission as we have built on those before us.