Soldiers' Mass
An army chaplain from Versailles, Ohio, Father Carl Subler offers spiritual guidance and religious services to U.S. soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.
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Itinerant
Father Subler travels from unit to unit by hitching rides on military helicopters or on Stryker infantry vehicles.
Vestment
On a recent Sunday, Subler performed Mass at three patrol bases in the Badula Qulp region of Helmand Province. The soldiers in this area are engaged in an aggressive effort to reclaim a Taliban stronghold near the town of Marjah.
Service
Father Subler has used MRE boxes as a makeshift altar for this Mass in the Badula Qulp area. It is not uncommon for the services to be interrupted by the sound of explosions or gunfire.
Wafers
A smoke grenade container holds communion wafers.
Praise the Lord
A former Navy radar operator, Subler attended seminary in Columbus, Ohio, then went to parachute school. He holds the rank of Captain.
Blessing
Subler blesses non-denominational chaplain Cpt. Gary Lewis at Forward Operating Base Frontenac in Kandahar province. Chaplain Lewis counsels grieving soldiers in 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry, which has suffered 21 fatalities since its deployment last summer, the most of any U.S. Army battalion during the Afghan war.
Twilight
"I find that my prayer life kind of suffers when I'm back home," says Subler. "I can pop a top on a cold one and watch TV. I find the more creature comforts are taken away from us, in many ways, we look to God with even more hope."
SOURCE: TIME Magazine
