Chaplain (Col.) Thomas Phelan, USAR, left. Photo by Allan Harding/Visual Information Center, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin
FORT McCOY, Wis.—Col. Thomas W. Phelan has retired after 28 years of chaplaincy with the United States Army Reserve. A retirement ceremony was held Dec. 9 at the base chapel of Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. Various members of the chapel family participated by reading Scripture, praying, and presenting special music. Dr. John Murdoch, director of Regular Baptist Chaplaincy Ministries and chaplain endorser, also participated, speaking of the sacrifice and leadership both Chaplain Phelan and his wife, Ora Lee, have given and the impact they have had on those to whom they have ministered.
Chaplaincy is well established in the Phelan home. Along with being an Army Reserve chaplain, Tom has served as a prison chaplain for the state of Kansas as his primary ministry. During the ongoing War on Terror, Tom has been on leave from his prison ministry, mobilized and deployed to Kuwait, Fort Bliss, Texas, and then Fort McCoy. He will be returning to prison ministry in January.
- Read about the ministry of Chaplain (Col.) Tom Phelan in “Farewell and Welcome”
Col. David Chesser, the garrison commander, officiated the ceremony, praising Phelan’s ministry at Fort McCoy. Chesser stated that of all the chaplains he has served with in his career, Phelan impressed him most. Though Col. Chesser did not attend chapel services, he said that “when Chaplain Phelan would talk or pray, I always got something worth thinking about from his communication.”
“It was an honor to participate in this ceremony on behalf of the GARBC and to extend our appreciation for the ministry the Phelan family has had over these past 28 years in the United States Army Reserve,” says Murdoch. “May God bless you as you retire from the Army Chaplaincy and pick up where you left off in the prison chaplaincy in the state of Kansas!”
