When the need arose for someone to give the invocation at the most recent meeting of the Pikes Peak Chiefs Forum, one of the forum's organizers, Chief Ernst Piercy of the U.S. Air Force Academy Fire Department at Colorado Springs, said he only had to make one phone call. That call was to Capt. Sherrol James, one of the base chaplains. “She's awesome,” he says. “I've never met anyone more approachable.”

Not a fire chaplain in the traditional sense, James ministers to the needs of the usaf's 10th Civil Engineer Squadron, which includes the base fire department.

Do you have specific responsibilities with respect to the base fire department, or is your work with the department part of your overall responsibilities as a military chaplain?

The responsibilities are all-inclusive. The only area that I'm responsible for that no one else is, is the base hospital. But as far as the base itself goes, all the chaplains cover various units.

I work very well with the fire department, especially Chief Piercy. We have a really good working relationship. We help each other out. If I need help in an area, I can call him. If he needs help, he calls me. As a matter of fact, he's just asked me to officiate at his son's wedding!

And it is nothing for me to go over to the department and visit, and sometime I'll take food to them, and those kinds of things. They work those long, weird hours…. We have programs here to make sure the fire folks get fed well!

Have you ever been involved in any counseling or with critical incident stress with the staff of the department?

We're not assigned in that way — we're parts of a team, and the team is for the entire base. So if the base has a critical incident, they would call the team together, and the entire team would respond. It hasn't happened with me at this base, but I've been called by fire departments to help where there has been a death.

Has working with the firefighters on the base provided you with any particular insight that you might have found of use in working with others?

Each area, each unit, is unique in many respects, but alike in so many others. There's always overlap, so things from one area carry to another.

How did you happen to become a military chaplain in the first place?

I was a reservist at Dover Air Force Base in Maryland, and I worked at the port mortuary. I was there during the truck bombing at the Khobar Towers. [Ed: The Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia housed USAF personnel from the 4404th Wing. The 1996 bombing left 19 American servicemen dead and hundreds injured.] That was the incident that really pushed me to come on to active duty and actually use all the training that I learned in clinical pastoral education, to use all my crisis and trauma training. That is what really helped me to decide.

Was that training specific to your duties within the military?

It's training that I elected on my own, but it is highly recommended, especially now that we're at war. The training that chaplains receive in clinical pastoral education is extremely valuable. I'd recommend to anyone who is going to be a chaplain, or even a pastor: Take a year of CPE. It really helps you, especially when you have to deal with the level of crises that you can have at military bases.

Is that something you foresaw prior to your involvement with the military, or for which you felt you had some sort of affinity?

Well, I was a pastor at the time, back in Maryland, but I was also an admissions counselor at the University of Maryland — Eastern Shore. I had to deal with a student's suicide. Then there were two teenagers who were killed in automobile accidents, and a teacher who was killed in an automobile accident, as well. The need to deal with the magnitude of the grief of those involved, the students, the teachers … well, it just pushed me to go and get the additional training that would better equip me to handle those types of situations.

Then, it just happened that while I was in training — it was a year-long course — there were four Air Force chaplains in my class. They kept saying, “You know, the military could use someone like you. You should give your endorser a call.” And I said, “Not a chance.” And now, here I am!

And that call from Chief Piercy regarding the Pikes Peak Chiefs Forum?

Like I said, the chief knows me, and he knows I'll do the best I can for him and the department, be it the dedication of renovated station or a call he wishes he didn't have to make. He knows I'll do the best I can for them. So when he called, I said, “Sure.” And I enjoyed it.