Chaplain Proud Of Son Joining Army
by Linda Lambiotte U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz
May 21, 2023
When you approach a new path in life, you
don’t always realize how that choice is going to affect the rest of
your life. When your children are born, you reflect about those
choices and how they will shape your family’s future.
As the
Month of the Military Child came to an end, Lt. Col. Todd Cheney,
deputy garrison chaplain for U.S Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz in
Baumholder, Germany, talked about how his military career drove many
decisions his family took, but also how it inspired his oldest
child, Kyle, to pursue a military career as well.
April 4, 2023 - Lt. Col. Todd Cheney, deputy garrison chaplain for U.S Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz in Baumholder,
Germany, (right) stands by his son, Private 1st Class Kyle
Cheney, who recently joined the U.S. Army and is stationed
at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. (Image created by USA
Patriotism! courtesy of Kristin Cheney.)
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“All three
of my kids are military children,” said Cheney. In the past 17
years, he and his family went through countless moves until arriving
in Germany in 2021.
In his position, he enables religious
support across the Garrison footprint, managing religious support
staff, providing developmental counseling, and ensuring Unity
Ministry Team training is complete.
Cheney was born and
raised in Los Angeles County, California. He decided to join the
military after a conversation with his own father.
“At the
time, I wasn’t really doing much with my life,” he said jokingly. “I
really wasn’t given a choice. My dad basically said, ‘you’re either
going to join the military or you’re going to go to a trade
school.’”
Cheney realized that this could be his opportunity
to shine. He was excited to carry on his grandfather’s legacy,
proudly serving his country. Fred Cheney served as a Marine during
WWII.
Cheney initially enlisted as an emergency medical
technician for the U.S. Army Reserve from 1989 to 1997. He had a
break in service of about 9 years during which he attended school to
obtain a second master’s degree and worked in the medical insurance
field, before returning to the military in 2006 when he received a
direct commission in the Army Chaplain Corps and became and active
Army chaplain.
One major accomplishment during his military
career was helping the Army Chaplain Corps establish the Graduate
School for Army Chaplain Corps Professional Development at Fort
Jackson, South Carolina, he said.
“The thing that the Army
has taught me the most is leadership,” Cheney said. “Being able to
look at problems as a leader and then make good decisions that help
the greater good has been a wonderful thing for me.”
Seeing
that his son Kyle was struggling to figure things out for himself,
Cheney decided to have a conversation with him.
“I sat down
with my son and told him it was time to decide what he really wanted
to do with his life,” he said.
Kyle PCS’d to Germany with his
parents in November 2021. After three full years of college in the
United States working on a nursing degree, he still wasn’t sure it
was the direction he wanted to go.
“I had been dropping
hints to him since he graduated high school a few years ago,” said
Cheney. “I told him that the military could give him a baseline of
medical skills. If he still wanted to pursue a career in the medical
field, the military would be a great option to get started.”
The very next day, Kyle told him about his decision to join the
Army. Kyle contacted a local Army recruiter on Kleber Kaserne,
and by Aug. 15 he was on a plane to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to start
Basic Training. He graduated from Advanced Individual Training in
March and now holds the rank of private first class.
“As
parents, we want to prepare our children to be able to ‘leave the
nest,’ said Cheney.“ I told my son that it didn’t feel like his mom
and I were being good parents unless we helped him become
independent.”
When Cheney and his wife Kristin heard about
Kyle’s decision to enlist in the Army, they felt an elevated sense
of pride.
“We were thankful and happy for him,” Cheney said.
“We are really proud to see him doing something that goes beyond
himself, serving others and supporting his nation. It is really
something that fills your heart with pride and joy.”
Cheney
encourages his son and the next generation of Soldiers to never stop
believing in what they can achieve.
“Your potential is only
limited by your attitude and your effort,” he said. “And, always do
PT, you have to be physically fit to BE ALL YOU CAN BE.”
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