New chaplain seeks to serve needs of 
Fort McCoy community

By Rob Schuette, Triad Staff

The new installation chaplain at Fort McCoy plans to encourage the installation’s Religious Support Office (RSO) to reach out, whenever possible, to serve all of the members of the community.

Chap. (Col.) Larry Barber, a native of Talladega, Ala., comes to Fort McCoy from the 90th Regional Readiness Command at Little Rock, Ark. There, he served as the Active Guard/Reserve chaplain for a five-state area.

"I’m very excited to be at Fort McCoy; it’s a real challenge," he said. "We have a lot of good people working here, and a lot of good things going on. My philosophy is that I know our resources — financial and manpower — are limited, but to the best of our ability, I want to reach out to all members."

One of Barber’s goals is to involve family members more in the RSO program. The RSO still will aim to meet its needs of providing religious services to personnel training or mobilizing at Fort McCoy, as well other personnel at the installation, such as the ChalleNGe Academy.

Other programs he hopes to rejuvenate, reintroduce or add include Protestant Women of the Chapel and Women’s Bible Study groups.

Barber said the RSO also is working on scheduling special speakers/presentations to appeal to people through worship and music.

A long-range goal would be to look at adding a contemporary worship program aimed at the younger Soldiers and personnel who would want to attend that type of worship, he said.

"It’s a need I perceive is there," Barber said. "But I want to ensure it’s a need from the community and not just from me. We’ll be receptive to requests from the community and try to be as innovative as we can."

Barber said he hopes to offer marriage-enrichment programs. The installation has offered several of these at off-post sites in previous years. Barber said he and another chaplain at the RSO are certified to instruct the course and will arrange to hold them on post.

These programs are being held around the country to target redeploying Soldiers and their spouses. Barber said the programs also can help permanent party and their spouses.

"I always think that no matter how good your marriage is there’s always room to improve it," he said.

Personnel seeking more information about religious or historical topics also are encouraged to visit the RSO’s small video/book library where they can view/read or check out materials. Barber said the service is open to the military, Department of Defense (DoD) personnel and members of the Fort McCoy community and is open during office hours.

Partnerships and cooperation with other organizations or programs both on or off post will be pursued to help support the installation’s religious needs. The RSO staff will work, whenever possible, with other installation organizations that offer programs, such as counseling, Army Emergency Relief, etc., to assist Soldiers, he said.

Fort McCoy also must realize it is not isolated, but a part of the surrounding communities, he said. To that end, Barber said he hopes to partner with area ministries and churches to help provide religious services/support to members of the Fort McCoy community.

The end result of the program is to help build the installation ministry to serve permanent party, family members and DoD civilians, as well as the other personnel, he said.

During the next several years, Barber said he hopes the RSO can continue on its chapel modernization plans for Chapel 1 (Protestant) and Chapel 10 (Catholic). Construction of a new chapel is in the planning stage. Barber said he is hopeful that the Chief of Chaplains Office will settle on a date in the near future.

In the long-range outlook, Barber said he believes the installation will need all three chapels to handle its religious mission.

Any questions about religious services at Fort McCoy or in the surrounding communities can be directed to the RSO, by visiting building 2675, or by calling (608) 388-3528.