Keeping faith on the front line
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/devon/7831862.stm Version 0 of 1. By Chloe Axford BBC News, Devon Stuart Hallam helps counsel marine commando recruits in Devon Coping with grief is part of the training to become a commando. With the death toll rising in Afghanistan, the Royal Navy's Stuart Hallam speaks of the crucial role of the chaplain. "It was the best of experiences and worst of experiences," says the Reverend Stuart Hallam of his deployment to Afghanistan. The Royal Navy chaplain spent seven months in Helmand province with 40 Commando Royal Marines last year, ministering to men spread over an area "the size of Wales". "As chaplains we do the commando course the same as the lads do," he explains. "That's the reason we get our green berets, so that we can be out on the ground with our people, and be where there is most need." The guys will often say 'there's only so many times you can roll the six Padre' Stuart Hallam, chaplain Now back in the UK, the 42-year-old former youth worker is one of three Christian chaplains based at the Commando Training Centre, Royal Marines, near Exmouth in Devon. Part of the gruelling 32-week training course to become a marine includes compulsory "emotional" training. The recruits, some as young as 16, attend sessions led by the chaplains covering issues like faith, coping with stress and dealing with grief. With the number of British servicemen and women killed in Afghanistan since 2001 now totalling more than 140, grief is a subject many serving marines and their families are becoming all too familiar with.Afghanistan was "the best and worst" of experiences, says the chaplain As a chaplain, Mr Hallam is one of the people they turn to for answers: "My experience has been that on operations people come to services and that reflects the fact that they are having to ponder very big questions in their lives. "Every time you go out from that forward operating base it could be that 'your number is up' as the lads would say." Three men from 40 Commando Royal Marines were killed during Mr Hallam's time in Afghanistan. "The guys will often say 'there's only so many times you can roll the six Padre, do you know what I mean?' I know exactly what they mean because you are literally walking in the footsteps of the person who's in front of you when you're out on the ground. "If they haven't exploded then the chances are you won't. "With those pressures you wouldn't be human if you didn't ask those sorts of questions. "That's why it's crucial that we are there, and that we are able to bring all our experience as a priest to be able to help them cope with that." |