Mighty Minot Chaplain Corps

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christian Sullivan
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The Air Force offers its personnel many opportunities to exercise their constitutional rights. One of those rights is freedom of religion.

Major Lance Giannone, wing chaplain of the 5th Bomb Wing, has been a chaplain for 15 years now and said he felt like he was called to do this job.

"I enlisted in 1986 and during my first year in the Air Force I became a Christian," Giannone said. "I began taking my faith very seriously. About two years after that I felt a calling to ministry. "

Although Giannone initially separated from the Air Force, he knew it's where he was meant to be.

"At the end of my six year enlistment I decided to separate and go to college to prepare for Ministry," the former dental assistant said. "When I separated it was very difficult. I really enjoyed the Air Force, I felt like a square peg in a square hole. I felt it really fit me. But I felt this call to the Ministry."

Giannone enjoys all aspects of his job, but being at Minot in a leadership position has become his favorite part of the job.

"Currently, in this position, my favorite part is functioning as a leader and being able to mentor younger chaplains," the Wilkes-Barre, Penn. native said. "I mentor chaplains that are looking to make the career field a bigger part of their lives and are looking to make the chaplain corps a career."

Minot's Chaplain Services range from marriage counseling and a listening ear to church services of all denominations.

"There's the stuff people have heard before, counseling, pre-marital and marital counseling, working with families, crisis intervention, even day-to-day stress," the chaplain said. "Most people are aware we provide 100% confidentiality, and that means no matter what you tell a chaplain it stays between us. People always ask why don't you report that, and the reason we don't is because the chaplain corps provides a place for people to bare a burden without fear of repercussion so we can get them the appropriate level of help if they want it. "

Chaplain Giannone knows the importance of his job and all that the chaplain corps offers.

"First and foremost we provide people with the right to exercise their religion," Giannone said. "There's places where our Airmen go whether it's a deployed location or being stationed overseas where they might not have those opportunities to go off-base so we travel with them to provide our services. Everything that we do grows from that."