Church of God Chaplain Appointed as Army Chaplain School Commandant
Chaplain (COL) David Smartt
Church of God Army Chaplain (COL) David Smartt was recently appointed as the Commandant of the US Army Chaplain Center and School (USACHCS) at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. The ceremony included Army Chief of Chaplains (MGEN) Douglas L. Carver, and the commandants of the Navy and Air Force chaplains schools, which have recently been relocated to Fort Jackson. Chaplain Smartt received the flag of the chaplain school from the out-going commandant, symbolizing the transfer of command.
The Chaplain Center and School provides state-of-the-Art religious support training to endorsed chaplains, and their enlisted or NCO team mates. The Chaplain Basic Officer Course transforms citizen volunteers, endorsed by their religious organization, into US Army officers and chaplains, with the mission to support the free exercise of religion of US soldiers and their families. The motto of the Army Chaplaincy Corps is “Pro Deo et Patria” … for God and Country.
Chaplain Smartt comes to the USACHCS from his assignment to the Pentagon as Command Chaplain, Installation Management Command. Prior to that, he served as Director, Information Resource Management and Logistics for the Army Chief of Chaplains at the Pentagon. He entered the Army in 1982 after graduating from the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, Tennessee. He also holds a Masters degree from Syracuse University and a Ph. D. from Northcentral University
Chaplain Smartt is married to the former Merial Booth of Alma, Georgia. They have three children, all married, and four grandchildren.
For more information about military chaplaincy, visit the Chaplains Commission website at: www.cogchaplains.com
