LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Four U.S. Border Patrol chaplains spent half a day on Jan. 27, 2020 with Laughlin’s chapel staff, sharing how each serves their communities at Laughlin Air Force, Base, Texas.
“It was great having them here,” said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Gregory Brunson, a 47th Flying Training Wing chaplain. “We share the same goal of taking care of people more than anyone thinks possible.”
The teams met for a round table discussion, went on a tour, spent some time in flight rooms seeing the nuts and bolts of the pilot training mission and then had lunch together.
“It was interesting seeing how the Air Force is using virtual reality for pilot training,” said Manuel Rodriguez, Border Patrol Del Rio sector chaplain. The chaplains even got a firsthand taste of virtual reality as they experienced the simulators and got to “fly” around the region, from the safety of the simulator building.
While the teams shared a lot of ideas, they also discussed how they could possibly work together in different arenas.
“We have the same passion for caring for our agency’s members,” said Rodriguez. “If we can spend time together and figure out ways we can work together and give our agency members better care, we are all in.”
Ensuring their teams have appropriate levels of resiliency training is a challenge for their manning, and by teaming up, they can more effectively reach the 5,000 Air Force and Border Patrol members in the region.
“I’ve been amazed since I arrived here at the amazing partners on the local, state, and federal levels who we work with,” said Col. Lee Gentile, 47th Flying Training Wing commander.