Editor's Notes

Change is becoming a familiar feature in our Army.  We now expect it and even plan for changes to occur in attempts to control the impacts on our people and on how we perform our mission.

Anticipating change and devising courses of action to minimize its adverse effects make the leader’s job extremely challenging.  Leaders must accommodate change themselves while ensuring their people do the same.  Indeed, the human dimension is commonly considered the greatest challenge to those who must deal with change.  And leadership is the key to directing our future.

General Dennis J. Reimer, Army Chief of Staff, remarked on the human dimension of change in his 1997 Army Green Book article, "On Leadership," by saying:

The solution to this critical challenge is found in one word — "leadership."  One of the great strengths of the U.S. Army has been its unswerving commitment to soldiers — to knowing them, protecting them, teaching and mentoring them, understanding their concerns and truly caring for them.  This is the right stuff of leadership and is something we need now more than ever.

The heart of religious support will always deal with the human dimension, for the Chaplaincy’s mission IS people.  Soldiers deserve good leadership at every level, and the Chaplaincy requires leadership of the highest caliber within its own ranks.  Chaplains, chaplain assistants and civilians working for the Chaplaincy should always set the example, be the model for others to emulate.  

That kind of leadership is our key to meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

-- NH