BRADLEY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Conn. -- Starting in January, the 103rd Airlift Wing chapel team began using a new versatile piece of equipment to expand their support capabilities to the Airmen in the unit.
The Tactical Field Religious Support Kit, or TFRSK, is a mobile, collapsible trailer that provides on-location spiritual support instead of the traditional onelocation chapel. The goal is to be more accessible to members regardless of their schedules and work locations.
Each drill weekend, the the chapel will host Sunday worship services in the TFRSK, nicknamed the “chapin-the-box”, located at high-visibility areas on base. In addition to the scheduled religious services, the mobile chapel will be available for Airmen to visit, speak with the chapel team, have coffee, or just unwind and destress when they have a chance.
“This year our focus really is to make a presence, to make sure our Airmen know we exist and that they’re important to us,” said Master Sgt. Jessica Rawlinitis-Chenery, Superintendent of Chapel Operations.
The chapel’s main purpose is to support spiritual fitness, which according to Lt. Col. Eric Wismar, 103rd Airlift Wing Chaplain, is a key pillar of Comprehensive Airman Fitness and essential to overall readiness. Chapel services, including religious support, confidential counseling and charitable outreach, help ensure the spiritual readiness of members.
Although the TFRSK is designed primarily to support units in the field, the chapel team feels it is a way to promote outreach on base as well. The addition of this technology is an extension of the myriad services the chapel currently offers, and reinforces the chapel’s commitment to reaching out to each and every Airman. Wismar and Rawlinitis-Chenery are actively engaged in partnership with several organizations, including the Junior Enlisted Advisory Council, the first sergeants and the student flight.
“We’re getting out into these organizations and partnering with them so we can broaden our connections that we have with the Airmen,” said Rawlinitis-Chenery. “It falls on us to be proactive and out there.”
The chap-in-the-box is a new, innovative way to bring spiritual support to the Airmen as opposed to having Airmen hunt for the chapel office, a location which frequently changes. The chapel team will publish the location of the chap-in-the-box through email as well as the Yankee Courier.