Brian Waite: 'For God and Country'

CBN.com RESPONDING TO THE CALL
Brian served as a Navy Chaplain from 1992 to 1996. Brian decided to leave active duty military to pastor a church near Dallas. It was during this time that he learned of his mother's terminal illness. Life was comfortable; Brian was invited to speak at various conferences around the U.S. He was also serving as the Command Chaplain for an Air Force reserve unit. When the terrorists attacked New York City and Washington, D.C., Brian felt an increasing dissatisfaction within his soul and felt an overwhelming urge that God has something else for him to do.

Brian started examining his life. If God was calling him back to the military chaplaincy, He needed to do it soon since Brian was approaching the age waiver level of 40. Soon Brian received a call from the senior recruiter for the USN Chaplain Corps and they needed a man of his experience to return! Several months later, Brian resigned his position at church and took a new oath of office. He was on his way to Newport, Rhode Island for a refresher course and on to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina where he served as a Chaplain with the 2nd Marine Division from August 2002 until August 2004.

LIBERATING IRAQ
Little did Brian know of the adventures God had in store for him. In February 2003, Brian was given notice to deploy within 48 hours to combat operations in Kuwait and Iraq. Most of his days were spent looking for opportunities to minister. Brian held multiple services each week and there were often times several hundred Marines and Sailors standing or sitting on the ground. “To be honest, I shared Jesus with them,” says Brian. On the day his unit was heading to the front lines, Brian had the opportunity to pray with 1,000+ Marines.

One day Brian’s unit discovered an enormous warehouse in An Nasiriyah of several tons of food (rice, beans, wheat) that could feed thousands of people. While the average citizens of Iraq were begging for food, members of Saddam Hussein’s regime were living like kings and queens. Although heavily involved in combat operations, Brian knew they had to distribute the food. He devised a plan with local officials. This act of kindness bonded the Americans with the town’s leaders and signaled to the Iraqis that Americans cared for them. Soon after Jessica Lynch was captured in An Nasiriyah, a local Iraqi lawyer, whose wife was a nurse at the hospital where Jessica was being held, came forward with vital intelligence that enabled special forces teams to rescue Jessica. Brian believes the goodwill gesture softened the heart of the Iraqi lawyer.

In April 2003 several men approached Brian about being baptized in the Tigris River after it had been secured. Although still in a hostile environment, Brian worked to secure the river. Snipers and gun trucks were placed at various locations. On Easter Sunday 2003, Brian had the great distinction of baptizing 44 service members, believed to be the largest Christian baptism in that region for the past several centuries! Several weeks later, the President announced the end to all major combat operations. On June 22, 2003, Brian came home.

Because of his heroic efforts on the battlefield, Brian was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with combat “V.” To date, he is only one of a handful of Chaplains serving with the Marines who has been distinguished for such acts of valor on the battlefield. “It was the most difficult time of my life,” says Brian. “But it was the most spiritually rewarding.” (Chaplains don’t carry weapons.)

Today Brian serves as one of the primary Chaplains for the Naval Submarine Support Command in Norfolk, Virginia, and is responsible for over 1,700 sailors and their families. Since reporting aboard, Brian served as a liaison to the USMC in their establishment of a new system of how warriors returning from combat operations can transition back into society with the least amount of disruption possible. He has also lectured in the areas of “Traumatology” and “Crisis Response” in the age of terrorism. He was also recently selected by the United States Institute of Peace as their primary case study concerning how a Chaplain can be employed as a liaison/negotiator in cultural and religious issues while serving in a combat environment. (During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Brian was instrumental in the negotiations with the third highest ranking Shiite Cleric in Iraq which is believed by the United States Institute of Peace to be the most intricate and vital talk between religious leaders in Iraq to date.)