Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center
The Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center (AFCC) is the center for training of United States military chaplains, located at Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina. Co-located on the AFCC campus are: the United States Army Chaplain Center and School, the United States Naval Chaplaincy School and Center, and the United States Air Force Chaplain Corps College. The Center includes the "Joint Center of Excellence for Religious Training and Education."
Ground-breaking for the AFCC took place May 6, 2008, and the official dedication of the campus occurred on May 6, 2010.
The creation of the AFCC began with the November 11, 2005 "Base Realignment and Closure" (BRAC) mandate for U.S. military chaplains. The mandated included two "imperatives":
The decision to create the AFCC included an 11.6 million dollar construction plan for a building with 45,800 square feet (4,250 m2) of space, including a 300-seat auditorium.
The Army, Navy, and Air Force schools are co-located on the AFCC campus, but their training programs for Chaplains, Chaplain Assistants and Religious Program Specialists are independent, and each has its own Commandant/Commanding Officer, faculty and staff. There is an overall Director and Senior Enlisted Advisor who deal with common issues affecting all schools, but each of the three schools maintains its own lines of authority and responsibility with the Chief of Chaplains and training leadership for its branch of the Armed Forces.
However, although each service school will train its chaplains, sharing the AFCC campus will allow for some joint classes and lectures, especially when guest lecturers in subjects like preaching—subjects that cross military service lines—visit the center.
The first AFCC director Air Force Chaplain Col. Steven Keith, said the directors of the individual schools that will share the AFCC campus worked to bring together elements with special meaning that could be shared. For example, the Center's hallways have stained glass from a closed Army chapel in New Jersey and a closed Air Force chapel in Germany.
To set the tone for the center, a famous image of George Washington, kneeling in prayer with his chaplain and soldiers at Valley Forge was chosen for the front lobby.
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