Decorated Army Ranger became chaplain to fight differently

A Major and a Chaplain, Jeff Struecker went from fighting as a warrior, taking that experience and fighting a different way to save the lives of others.

Face of Defense: Chaplain Helps Others Fight Stress
By News Editor • on November 9, 2009

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2009 – Readers of Mark Bowden’s “Black Hawk Down” can put the book aside when they’ve had enough of their mind’s reaction of the brutal 1993 battle of Mogadishu, Somalia.

But Chaplain (Maj.) Jeff Struecker isn’t that lucky. The decorated Army Ranger was charged with leading the ground assault force on all the targets that the task force hit in Somalia.

“I had been shot at and seen many dead warriors [before Mogadishu],” Struecker said. “I never experienced anything like the violence and the overwhelming sense of desperation like I experienced in Somalia. After losing one of my men and having many others wounded around me, I found a great sense of peace and courage through my faith.”

Struecker, who also deployed to Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989 and Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East in 1991, went back and forth into Mogadishu three times during the main firefight.

His experience in the Somalian capital was a turning point for the soldier who’s currently deployed to Afghanistan with the 75th Ranger Regimental Special Troops Battalion.

“My wife, Dawn, and I had a great relationship before Somalia, but after the operation we both understood just how fragile human life is and how valuable our relationship is,” he said. “Somalia helped me put my priorities in order.”

It also led him to consider pursuing a different aspect of his military career.

“After the big firefight was over, I had many men that I work with asking me questions about matters of faith and how to deal with the trauma of an event like this,” Struecker said. “It was this experience — talking with my friends about combat stress and faith in Jesus Christ after the big firefight — that caused me to start thinking about becoming an Army chaplain.”

Since 2001, every time Struecker has deployed, it’s been as a chaplain, drawing on the combat experiences he’s had during his 22-year military career to help servicemembers dealing with the traumatic stress they may be feeling.
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Chaplain Helps Others Fight Stress